


Fake Dating? No Way.

by liittle_dragonfly



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24903070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liittle_dragonfly/pseuds/liittle_dragonfly
Summary: Sikowitz challenges Tori and Jade, and Beck and André to be 'fake couples' for two months. But will Tori and Jade be able to handle it?
Relationships: Andre Harris/Beck Oliver, Tori Vega/Jade West
Comments: 24
Kudos: 484





	1. Chapter 1

**1 - Intro**

“Why is Sikowitz late _again_?!”

Tori looked to Jade, who was slumped down in her chair with her arms crossed. “This is, like, the third time this week!”

Tori rolled her eyes at Jade’s normal bitterness. “Hopefully he’s okay.” She said, shaking her head.

“One time, my brother was late to school so he just decided to skip that day, but then he ended up taking money from a bank.” Cat piped up. Everyone looked at her incredulously.

“I’m sure everything’s fine, he probably stopped to get more coconuts.” André said, ignoring Cat’s usual statements. Tori nodded, relaxing a little bit.

Just then, Sikowitz burst through the door, waving his hands wildly. “THE POLICE ARE HERE, EVERYONE GET DOWN!” He shouted.

“Aw, not again.” Jade groaned, but her statement got swallowed by the frantic yelling of the class as they ducked under their chairs.

“HAHAHA GOT YA!” Sikowitz cried after a few moments. The students sighed and rolled their eyes, eventually settling down. “Now everyone, take your seats. We’ve got much to learn today!”

As they sat down, Sikowitz hopped onto the stage. “Today’s lesson is about character dynamics. In TV shows, movies, and whatnot, there’s often certain “categories” that the characters fall under: there’s the smart, sometimes nerdy one, the dark and brooding one, the casanova, the bubbly one, and the goody-two-shoes, just to name a few. Of course, there are many more categories, but these are usually the most commonly used.

“It’s important to note how these character types interact with each other. For example, the smart and nerdy one isn’t the most popular or the most liked person at the school, so they’d probably get bullied a lot. Or in other shows and movies, two characters would hate each other but soon come to be on friendly terms, which may or may not develop into a romantic relationship down the line.”

Sikowitz paused and looked at the class with his arms outstretched. Everyone stared back at him blankly. Sikowitz dropped his arms with a defeated sigh. “Alright, it seems like none of you get what I’m saying. So therefore we shall have a demonstration!” He said, stomping his feet excitedly. “Tori, Beck, André, Jade - get up here!”

The four in question got up with no complaints, except for a loud groan from Jade. They stood on the stage and awaited their instructions. After a while of Sikowitz giving no directions and instead slurping a coconut, Tori let out a sigh.

“Sikowitz!” She yelled. The teacher seemed to snap out of a trance, looking up at the four on the stage.

“Ooh right! I want you all to pretend you’re having a normal conversation with each other.” He said.

“Any specific location?” Beck asked.

“Suggestions?” Sikowitz looked at the rest of the class.

“In the halls after school!” Rex called out. Robbie glared at the puppet on his hand.

“Awh, I was gonna say that!” He cried, pouting.

“Excellent! Thank you, Rex,” Sikowitz praised. “Are you all ready?” He turned to the four on stage. He hardly gave them a chance to respond before he shouted, “ACTION!”

It took them a moment to register what he said, but before long they were “in character”.

“Hey, do you guys wanna come to Nozu with me?” Tori started the scene.

André and Beck murmured their agreement, while Jade spat out a simple, “No.”

“Oh come on, it’ll be fun!” Beck insisted, turning to his ex-girlfriend.

“I’m sure it’ll be fun for _you_ , with all those Northridge hoes drooling over you.” Jade retorted.

“Hey now, let’s chill down. You don’t have to come, Jade, no one’s forcing you.” André said, but immediately shrank back as Jade turned her glare onto him.

“Jade, if you’re just going to be a downer-” Tori began, but was cut off by Jade.

“Shut it, Vega.” She snapped. The two girls began bickering, and soon all four of them were trying to talk over one another.

“Alright! Alright! _Scene_!” Sikowitz finally butted in, breaking up their arguing. He let them go back to their seats before turning to the class. “See, now do you understand?” He grinned in satisfaction as the students nodded. “Wonderful!”

Suddenly the bell rang loudly, signaling the end of class. As everyone gathered their stuff to leave, Sikowitz tapped his foot on the stage. “Tori, André, Beck, and Jade. Stay for a minute.” He said. They looked at him cautiously.

“What do you want?” Tori questioned as soon as the final students left.

“That scene was a very nice idea,” Sikowitz began. “And your character dynamics are wonderful.”

“Get to the point.” Jade huffed.

Sikowitz rolled his eyes, unfazed by Jade’s attitude. “Remember when I mentioned that the relationship between two characters may become a romantic one?”

“Yeah, so?” André said. He furrowed his brows as they all tried to follow Sikowitz’s thought process.

The teacher’s face broke out into a wide grin. “I thought that I should challenge you four.” He paused, before continuing, “Two of you must pretend to date one of the other two in order to understand your own personal dynamics and how it works with - or against - the other person’s.” He folded his hands together as he finished.

The four students stood shocked. They looked at each other in disbelief, then at their crazy lunatic of a teacher.

“Are you serious?” Beck finally asked. They all began voicing their disapproval, but Sikowitz quickly cut in.

“Yes, I’m very serious. It’s a good way to experiment with someone who has a completely different personality than your own.” He replied.

“And how long would we have to “date” that person?” Tori asked, although she already dreaded the answer.

“Two months.” Came Sikowitz’s quick response.

“ _WHAT!?!_ There is no way I’m going to pretend to date one of them for two whole months!” Jade yelled, crossing her arms in anger.

“I’m counting this as an assignment for you four, and if you don’t do it, you will get a failing grade.” Sikowitz said.

“And what if the “couple” doesn’t last the full two months?” Jade asked. “Would they still fail?”

“Oh no, not if you actually try to put effort into this. As long as I know you both tried, you’ll pass.” Sikowitz answered her. “And, unless it’s Cat and Robbie, you’re not allowed to tell anyone that it’s fake; you must sell it to the other students that you’re actually dating.”

“But…” Tori began, but André laid his hand on Tori’s shoulder comfortingly.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure the two months will go by faster than you know it.” He soothed.

Tori nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess so…”

“So do we get to choose who we “date”, or what’s the deal?” Beck chimed in.

They all looked to Sikowitz questioningly. Tori’s gaze flicked between the three others standing beside her. There was no doubt it would be awkward if Jade and Beck were paired together; they had broken up months ago, and didn’t show any signs of wanting to get back together. Although they still loved each other dearly, the spark just wasn’t there anymore.

And it would definitely be awkward for Tori and André to be put with each other, since they were best friends. As Tori thought about it more, it would be awkward for any of them to be paired up. They were all friends - Jade was iffy - so it was hard to imagine any of them pretending to date one of the other four.

Sikowitz clapped his hands together in excitement. “I'm so glad you asked!” He cried. “Jade and Tori, you two will date. And André and Beck, you two will date.” He sounded as if he’d been planning this for a while. He gave them a sly grin, before sprinting out the door. “Happy dating.” He tossed over his shoulder, then closed the door behind him.

They all stood in the middle of the room, dumbfounded. Tori slowly turned to Jade, and nearly passed out when she saw the murderous glare on her face. Tori could only muster the tiniest smile. André and Beck exchanged glances; Beck’s only emotion was complete confusion, while André looked slightly more worried.

“H-he must’ve made a mistake… o-or something…” Tori stuttered, trying to find some way to convince herself that she didn’t have to pretend to date Jade, aka The Devil.

“He’s Sikowitz for fuck’s sake, there’s no way he’d make a mistake pairing us up like _this_.” Jade growled. She snatched up her bag before stomping out of the classroom. Tori stared after her with a sigh.

After saying goodbye - and good luck - to the boys, Tori picked up her bag and left the room, her stomach churning. _‘_ _This is gonna be a looong two months.’_


	2. Chapter 2

**2 - Tori’s POV**

Tori was sprawled across the couch, watching “ _Celebrities Underwater_ ” and shoveling spoonfuls of ice cream in her mouth. As soon as she had gotten home, she did as many things as she could to avoid thinking about her current situation; she did the dishes, finished all her homework in less than an hour, and she even dusted the house. _‘Who does that anymore?!’_ She had thought to herself. But no matter what she did, her thoughts always wandered back to a certain pale-skinned, raven-haired girl. Who she was now forced to date.

She turned off the TV with a groan. “I’ll never be able to get through this…” She muttered.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Tori sat up, confused. “Who…?” She wondered aloud. She pushed herself off the couch and made her way towards the door. When she opened it, she was slightly startled by who stood before her.

Jade was leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed, her face wearing its usual irritated expression. She had to stand there for a while as Tori tried to collect her thoughts.

“J-Jade, I didn’t expect to see you here…” The brunette finally spluttered out.

“Yeah well I’m here now. So can I come in or what?” Jade asked, although it wasn’t much of a question since she practically shoved her way past Tori. She flopped down on the couch, and Tori closed the door before sitting on the other side.

“Listen, if we’re being forced to pretend to date each other, you’re gonna have to… y’know, _not_ openly show your hatred towards me.” Tori said, frowning. At first Jade glared at Tori, then tried to steady her temper as she worked over what Tori just said.

“I know. That’s why I came here, to make sure we’re on the same page and to… figure out how to do this.” For once, Jade didn’t seem harsh, or sarcastic, or snappy.

She seemed… uncomfortable? 

“Uh, yeah! Right, um, so how should we do this?” Tori asked hastily. “Do you want to take it slow, o-or get right to it, or-”

Jade laid a hand on Tori’s knee, more so to shut her up rather than to comfort her. “Calm down, Vega.” She said gruffly. Tori did as she was told, and looked at Jade as she waited for the other girl to say something.

“We’re not actually dating so it doesn’t really matter. But since everyone at school would probably drop dead if they saw us suddenly making out in the hallways, we’d better take it slow,” Jade began. She took her hand off Tori’s knee, and the brunette felt a twinge of sadness at the lack of contact.

“But that doesn’t mean you can hug me.” Jade continued. “I’ll only allow hand holding - once a day! If it’s any more than that, I will cut your hand off with scissors. And absolutely NO kissing under ANY circumstance.”

Tori nodded vigorously, indicating that she understood. “Wait, if Sikowitz was the one to issue the challenge, then maybe we can get away with pretending to date in just his class?” She suggested.

Jade looked thoughtful, taking her idea into consideration. After a moment she shook her head. “That probably won’t work. You know Sikowitz; I bet he’ll have Sinjin and Burf spy on us to make sure we’re putting in ‘effort’.”

Tori frowned. “Ugh, you’re right.”

“Well duh, I always am.”

Tori merely rolled her eyes at Jade’s comment. “Oh, and he’ll probably want us to go on dates and whatever. Y’know, to really feel like a couple.”

Jade groaned. “Shit, I’m always bad with those.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure it won’t be so bad. It’s just two months, they’ll go by faster than you can say ‘I hate Tori’.” Tori assured Jade.

“I hate Tori. Wow, it’s still 6:42pm, you filthy liar.” Jade said teasingly.

“You know that’s not what I meant!”

“I have no idea what you meant!” Jade’s high-pitched obnoxiously southern accent jumped out as she mocked Tori.

“I don’t talk like that!” Tori snapped back.

“Whatever.”

Tori sighed. “Well, since you’re here, wanna watch a movie? It’ll be like our first date as a fake couple!”

Jade pursed her lips as if she’d rather do anything else, but nodded anyway. “Fine. Pick a movie. But nothing sappy!”

———

Four hours later, the second movie’s end credits finished rolling. They ended up first watching ‘ _To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before_ ’, much to Jade’s frustration - she told Tori that she only allowed it because Tori wouldn’t shut up (but Tori knew that Jade secretly enjoyed it) - and then ‘ _The Autopsy of Jane Doe_ ’ as Tori’s punishment for having Jade sit through the rom-com. There were empty pizza boxes strewn across the floor and popcorn crumbs littered the couch, and Tori inwardly groaned at the thought of cleaning everything up.

Somewhere in the four hours of watching movies, the two girls wound up sitting rather closely on the couch. As soon as Jade noticed the lack of distance, she jerked away and stood up quickly.

“I, uh, I should get going. It’s almost 11.” She muttered. Tori stood up after her, brushing popcorn off her jeans.

“R-right! Um, yeah, wouldn’t wanna keep you up too late.” The brunette stammered, hiding a faint blush. Jade picked up her bag and made her way to the door. She paused in front of it, turning to Tori.

“Oh, and one more thing I forgot to mention earlier,” She said, smirking. “While we’re ‘dating’, don’t ever even THINK about having sex.”

Tori’s blush deepened. “W-what?! I-I would never…!”

Jade’s smirk only widened at Tori’s reaction, and she opened the door. “See you tomorrow, _girlfriend_.” She laughed, then closed the door behind her.

Tori was left standing in the middle of the room, blushing like crazy. _‘What just happened…? And why am I blushing so much?!’_ Ever since she found out she had to fake-date Jade, she’d been feeling off; however, she merely blamed it on the fact that she had to fake-date _Jade_.

She shrugged it off, and began cleaning up the mess that they made - which Jade conveniently wasn’t there to help clean.

_‘What have I gotten myself into…?’_


	3. Chapter 3

**3 - Jade’s POV** ****

Jade fumbled with her keys for a minute before sticking them in the keyholes and silently opening her door. It was 11:10 at night and her family was asleep. Jade had to make sure she was extra quiet, otherwise she’d never hear the end of it.

She made her way up to her room, avoiding a particular floorboard that loudly squeaked if you stepped on it wrong. She slipped into her room, throwing her bag in a corner and flopping down on her bed. She stared at the ceiling as she reflected on her day.

The day wasn’t too bad; sure, she absolutely was  _ not _ happy about having to fake-date  _ Tori Vega _ , but when she went over to Tori’s house, she thought that it might not be so bad.

_ ‘Are you crazy?! Of course it’s gonna be bad!’ _ She scolded herself. This is Tori she’s talking about, the girl she swore she hated. And now they have to date. There’s no way this’ll end well.

_ ‘Well, at least the movies were alright.’ _ She thought. She remembered how scared Tori got when they watched the second movie, and she smirked. “I swear, that girl gets scared over every little thing in horror movies.” Jade muttered.

But the worst part was, Jade actually had fun. So maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, having to fake-date Tori. And anyway, it was only for two months, so there really wasn’t anything to worry about.

Except there was - because it’s two months! Jade could hardly last a day at school with that prissy princess, how the hell was she going to last two months?

Instead of dwelling on it, she decided to just get some sleep and hopefully this whole day turned out to be only a dream. Or rather, a nightmare. She rolled off her bed and changed into her normal sleep wear - a sports bra and spandex - then climbed back into bed. She laid there for a while, staring at her wall as more thoughts of Tori passed through her head. Though, she was too tired to give them any attention.

Soon, her eyes grew too heavy to keep open, and she drifted into an uncomfortable sleep.

———

An alarm blared loudly in Jade’s ear. She groaned, feeling around for her phone to turn it off. Once she killed the alarm, she blinked open her eyes, squinting against the sunlight filtering into her room.  _ ‘Why do I live in L.A.? I hate the sun, and it’s nothing but sun here.’ _

“Jade! Are you awake? I made waffles!”

She dragged herself out of bed at the sound of her step-mother’s voice. “Yeah I’m coming!” She called back hoarsely. She picked out her outfit and tiredly threw on the clothes, then fixed herself in the mirror.

Her outfit of choice was a green long-sleeve shirt, with the sleeves ending in a lace-like design. She paired it with a short black skirt, black stockings, and her black combat boots. Satisfied, she picked up her bag and made her way down the stairs and to the kitchen. She grabbed a plate of waffles - topped with whipped cream - and ate them rather quickly.

“In a hurry?” Her stepmom asked.

“Yeah, I’m gonna be late.” Jade replied curtly.

“But you still have 40 minutes…”

“I have a, uh, a project to work on.” Jade said, finishing the rest of her breakfast and grabbing her keys. “See you later!” And with that, she pulled the door closed, grateful that she didn’t have to answer her nosy stepmom anymore. She got in her car, shoving the key in and starting it up.

She arrived at school with 30 minutes to spare. Flinging open the door, she walked up to her scissor-decorated locker and stuffed books inside.

“Didn’t expect to see you here this early.”

Jade jumped at the voice next to her, slamming her locker shut. She relaxed slightly when she saw it was just Tori.

“Hey,  _ girlfriend _ . Did I scare ya?” She teased.

“No, of course not.” Jade scoffed, crossing her arms. Her stomach twisted when Tori called Jade her girlfriend, but she didn’t know why. Probably because that word is disgusting, and it was said by  _ Tori _ . Yeah, that’s it…

“Riiiiight.” Tori smirked, nudging Jade with her elbow. Jade flinched away slightly.

“Watch it, Vega. Just ‘cause we’re fake-dating doesn’t mean you have a free pass to touch me.” She warned. Tori got the message and shifted away from her. “And don’t forget, you can only hold my hand once a day. You don’t wanna use that up already, do you?” She questioned, studying the Latina in front of her.

“No, not yet. But you better be on the lookout today. I might sneak up on you and hold your hand.” Tori said with a wink. Jade rolled her eyes, letting out a sound that was a mixture of disgust and irritation. Her stomach twisted again, and she looked down to hide the blush that was trying to force its way onto her cheeks.

“Remember, you gotta pretend to hate me less!” Tori chimed. Jade merely sighed.

“Yeah whatever.”

She looked back up as more people began filtering into the school, the first period bell only a few minutes away from ringing. The rest of the gang showed up, and they talked about whatever came up. Jade noticed that Beck and André were standing closer together today, so much so that their arms were almost touching. She assumed they talked over a plan yesterday after school, as well, since they were also being graded for the challenge. She also caught sight of a mop-headed boy at the top of the stairs, holding a pair of binoculars to his eyes.

She sighed.  _ ‘So my prediction was right.’ _ She gently nudged Tori and motioned to Sinjin. The brunette looked to the stairs, then let out a quiet groan. She glanced at Jade desperately, but Jade only shrugged, staring back at her with an expression that said, ‘what am I supposed to do?’.

André frowned at Tori, hearing her small groan. She jerked her head in the direction of Sinjin, nodding slowly as André looked over then back again. He whispered something to Beck, which made the taller boy sigh and shake his head exasperatedly.

“Uh, what’s going on?” Cat wondered. The two fake-couples hadn’t noticed the long silence that fell over the group, and now Robbie and Cat were staring at them with concern.

They all fumbled with their words before Jade managed to get out, “We were thinking about a test in a class.” She crossed her arms, hoping the other two wouldn’t ask any more questions.

“Uh-huh. And what’s the test about, hm? Maybe, ‘how many secret head signals are there’?” Rex piped up. Jade shot him a glare, and if looks could kill, both Robbie and Rex would be turned to dust right about now.

“Chill down, it’s just a history test.” André cut in, catching onto Jade’s escape plan. The other two quickly nodded.

“Y-yep! About, uh, World War I.” Tori added.

“Ohh, cool!” Cat chirped. “One time, my brother almost started a war…”

Jade tuned out whatever Cat said next, knowing that it would make no sense. Thankfully, the bell soon rang, and everyone went off to their classes.

———

Since none of Jade’s first few classes had any of her friends in them, the next time she saw them was at lunch. She was on her way to the Asphalt Café when she was stopped by Tori.

“Hey.” The brunette said breathlessly.

“What happened, did you run a marathon between classes?” Jade asked.

“No, just from the other side of school.” Tori replied, which gained an eye roll from Jade.

“Well, what do you want?” She turned to face the Latina, tapping her foot impatiently. “They’re having tater pops at lunch today and I sure as hell won’t be missing those.”

“It’ll only be a second.” Tori muttered. “How are we gonna tell Cat and Robbie that we and André and Beck have to fake-date?”

“Easy. If they ask, we’ll tell.”

“It wasn’t that easy earlier when you had to lie about the history test.” Tori pointed out.

“I didn’t know what else to do at the time!” Jade snapped. “And besides, we’re not really dating, so it doesn’t matter. Now let’s go. Those tater pops aren’t gonna eat themselves.” She shoved Tori’s shoulder before walking outside, ignoring the squeak of protest behind her.

Jade sat down in her normal spot, and was taken by surprise when Tori slid into the seat next to her. Jade had gotten her tater pops - luckily there was no line, otherwise someone probably would’ve been hurt with scissors - and was now contentedly eating as she listened to each conversation taking place.

“So how was the history test?” Robbie questioned after a lull in conversation.

“It went great.” Beck answered.

“Dude, they’re lyin’ to you! There was no test!” Rex shouted at Robbie.

“What are you talking about?” Tori asked hesitantly.

“I saw the way y’all were lookin’ at each other and givin’ head signals! So c’mon, spill the-”

Rex was abruptly cut off as Jade grabbed a ketchup bottle and squirted it in the puppet’s face.

“Jade!” Robbie cried. He grabbed a napkin and began hurriedly wiping off Rex’s face. Everyone else was laughing hysterically, and Tori gently nudged Jade with her shoulder. Jade only shrugged.

“He deserved it.” She stated simply, and Tori just sighed and shook her head.

Just then, Jade felt something slowly slip into her hand. She looked under the table and saw that Tori’s hand was pressed against her own, their fingers intertwined. Her breath caught in her throat, and she looked back up at the other girl with a small blush visible on her face.

“I told you to be ready.” Tori murmured, smiling. Jade saw that the brunette was also blushing, and she smirked.

“Yeah well, you used up your one for the day.” Jade whispered back. She turned her attention back to her food, trying to ignore her thoughts of how perfectly their hands fit together.

Beck must have seen her blushing, because when he caught her eye, he glanced between the two fake-girlfriends questioningly. Jade could only scowl and look away, her blush deepening. She couldn’t see his expression, but she did hear his faint laugh. She gave him a sharp side eye, and he snapped his mouth shut, but still snickered.

She looked back up and saw Cat and Robbie staring at them in confusion. Cat opened her mouth to say something, but whatever she was about to say was cut off by the bell ringing, signaling the end of lunch. Jade silently thanked the greatly-timed bells, and gathered her bag. The group began to leave, and Jade was pulled up by Tori, their hands still together. She sighed, throwing her bag on her shoulder before walking alongside Tori to their next class, which was conveniently Sikowitz’s. She glared at the few students that dared to look at her and Tori as they passed by. Tori gently squeezed Jade’s hand, letting her know to relax with the glaring. Jade grunted in response, instead focusing on the tiled floor as they neared the classroom.

Tori and Jade entered the classroom after the rest of their friends. Sikowitz caught sight of their interlocked hands, and he gave them an approving nod. Jade only snorted while Tori awkwardly smiled. Jade walked to two open seats at the very back corner, dragging Tori with her.

Class went by agonizingly slow. Sikowitz talked about stuff that Jade didn’t particularly care about paying attention to. All she could focus on was her and Tori’s hands and how Tori absentmindedly traced small circles on the back of Jade’s hand with her thumb. Her thumb's trail left a tingling sensation in its wake, and Jade suppressed a shiver. It felt nice, soft and comforting against her skin - though she’d never admit that out loud to Tori.

She gently rubbed her own thumb across the back of Tori’s hand, glancing at the brunette out of the corner of her eye as she did so. Tori blushed, and gave Jade a small smile. She returned the smile, then turned her attention back to Sikowitz, who was babbling on about God knows what.

That’s when she saw Beck and André on the other side of the room. André has his head resting on Beck’s shoulder, and Beck’s hand was laid on André’s knee. Beck turned around and saw Jade watching them. He smirked at her, then turned back around.  _ ‘Are they trying to one-up us?’ _ Jade thought with disbelief. She scoffed quietly.  _ ‘We can do better.’ _

The bell rang, and the students began slowly leaving the room. By some great miracle, no one saw Tori and Jade holding hands throughout the entire class. Jade breathed a sigh of relief as the last few kids walked out the door. She briskly stood up and pulled Tori behind her as she escaped the room before Sikowitz could start asking questions.

“Hey hey, slow down! What’s the hurry?” Tori cried, squeezing Jade’s hand.

“I didn’t want Sikowitz to bombard us with questions. The last thing we need is him asking us if we’ve kissed.” Jade huffed, finally stopping in front of Tori’s locker. The brunette sharply inhaled, her face taking on a deep red.

“ _ Jade!! _ ”

“What? I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Tori hesitated, indicating that she agreed with Jade. “…It’s still invasive.” She finally sighed. Jade just shrugged.

“Well, I have to leave now. Will you be alright without my hand to hold?” The goth teased, winking at Tori.

“Yes, of course!” She retorted.

“Good.” Jade said, untangling her hand from Tori’s. As much as she hated to admit, she already missed the warmth of the other girl’s hand, the circles from her thumb now only a ghost on her skin.

Tori noticed her slightly disappointed expression. “Will  _ you _ be able to handle it?” She laughed, wiggling her eyebrows tauntingly.

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course I can.” Jade scoffed. She spun on her heels and marched away, giving Tori one last glance. “Don’t miss me too much,  _ girlfriend _ .”

And just like that, she walked out, leaving Tori somewhat stunned and staring after the raven-haired girl.


	4. Chapter 4

**4 - Tori’s POV**

It had been almost four weeks since Tori and Jade began fake-dating. They’d been hanging out together more often, going on more dates, all that stuff. Jade was starting to be less rough to Tori, but she still made the brunette follow the hand-holding rule, making sure to give Tori plenty of warning if she had been feeling extra cocky.

She found herself to be enjoying her time with Jade, even though it was fake and it didn’t mean anything. She was more smiley lately, and their friend group definitely noticed how close the girls had gotten, with the way the gang always looked at the two. Of course, Cat and Robbie had to be filled in on everything two weeks ago because they began getting more and more suspicious. Rex constantly teased the two fake couples when he found out, but was quickly shut up by Jade ripping his leg off. “Next time it’s your head!” She had snapped before dipping his leg in mustard.

Beck and André made good progress in their ‘relationship’, too. They were holding hands a lot more often - definitely more than once a day - as well as hugging. Tori hadn’t seen or heard whether they'd kissed yet, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t want to ask one of them. And deep down, she wondered if her and Jade would kiss soon. The thought awoke butterflies in her stomach, and she tried to push the thought out of her head.  _ ‘Remember, she said not to think of kissing.’ _ She reminded herself. But it lingered in her head longer than she would’ve liked to admit.

The rest of the school had also noticed the two couples. Many of them often stared in disbelief or shock, while others shared knowing looks with their friends, as if they were waiting for the couples to get together. If there was anyone who dared to look at Tori and Jade with disgust, Jade didn’t hesitate to lunge at them, and Tori had to hold her back every time to make sure no one got hurt.

Now, she was standing in front of her locker and talking to her friends before they went to Sikowitz’s class. She leaned into Jade as they laughed at whatever joke was just told, enjoying the feeling of their bodies brushing against each other. Their hands were loosely clasped together and their arms were touching, sending jolts of electricity up Tori’s arm at the warmth of the goth’s soft skin. She glanced up at Jade, unable to hold back a small smile as she watched her fake-girlfriend laugh, seeing the little twinkle in her eyes and knowing that she was genuinely content.

Jade looked down and caught Tori’s eye. She gave her a smirk and winked at her, causing Tori to blush and avert her gaze.

“Whatcha lookin’ at, Tori?” Jade teased.

“N-nothin’.” She muttered.

“Uh-huh, right. Y’know, you’re a horrible liar.” Jade snickered.

“What?! I am not!” Tori replied indignantly.

“Don’t deny it, you know I’m right.” Jade said, and gave Tori’s hand a slight squeeze.

“Whatever…”

The two girls were taken out of their moment as the bell rang, and the gang made their way to Sikowitz’s. Jade suddenly released her hand from Tori’s, giving her another smirk before walking a few paces ahead.

Tori gasped dramatically.  _ ‘Did she really just…?’ _ She narrowed her eyes, then sped up and reached for her hand again. Jade snatched it away before the brunette could grab it, turning to her.

“What do you think you’re doing? Did you forget that it’s once a day?” She questioned with a grin.

“That’s not fair!” Tori whined, reaching for her hand once more, only for Jade to move it away.

“Sorry.” She chuckled, and she obviously wasn’t sorry. Tori frowned and crossed her arms.

“I’ll get you.” She growled.

“Oh no, I’m  _ so _ scared.” Jade said, before turning and walking into the classroom. Tori followed Jade and sat down next to her, giving her a side glare. The goth only smiled in satisfaction.

———

Class went by in a blur. Tori and Jade spent almost the whole time stealing glances at each other, seeming to taunt each other with just their eyes. Sikowitz must have noticed them a few times, but decided not to interrupt them.

Tori also looked at André and Beck once or twice. André had his legs draped across Beck’s, and Beck’s arm was resting comfortably around André’s waist.  _ ‘Damn, they’re good.’ _ Tori thought.  _ ‘I oughta tell Jade we better step it up.’ _ Fortunately, Jade was also looking at their couple competition, and Tori could tell that the other girl was thinking the same thing.

The bell startled Tori out of her thoughts. She glanced over at Jade, who was already on her feet with her bag on her shoulder.

“Later, babe.” She murmured as she slipped past Tori, trailing her fingertips across the Latina’s legs and leaving goosebumps in their wake. Tori blushed deeply, stiffening.  _ ‘B-babe…?!’ _ She looked up at Jade, but she was already almost out the door by the time Tori could collect her thoughts.  _ ‘My God, she reeeally knows how to tease someone.’ _

She shook her head, grabbing her bag and standing up. She noticed that the only two people left in the room were her and André, so she decided to take advantage of the privacy. She made her way over to her best friend and leaned against the wall.

“So, how’s it going with you and Beck?” She asked.

André looked up, smiling. “Oh hey Tori! It’s actually not going too bad. Since we already get along pretty well, it’s not that hard to pretend to date,” He explained. “Of course, there’s no romantic feelings between us or anything.”

“Oh, got it!” Tori grinned. “Sooo… have you two kissed yet?” She pressed on hesitantly.

André laughed. “No, not yet, and probably not anytime soon. Unless we need to keep Sikowitz off our backs about not putting in effort.”

Tori nodded in understanding. “Oh yeah, of course.” She giggled.

“And what about you and Jade? How are you two getting along?” André switched the topic onto her. “I’ve noticed that neither of you have ripped the other to pieces yet, so that obviously means you’re doing something right.”

Tori faltered, not expecting him to ask about her fake-relationship. “U-uh, it’s not as bad as I thought. She was pretty difficult in the beginning, but I think she’s starting to loosen up. I mean, she’s still difficult, but she’s, well, Jade. So obviously she’s not suddenly gonna turn into Cat.” She said.

André laughed at that. “And have you two kissed?”

Tori faintly blushed. “Nope. She’d probably cut my lips off if I tried anything.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t put it past her. I see she’s limiting how many times you two hold hands, too.” André added.

“Oh yeah, definitely. She can be a real pain about it, like you probably saw today. But usually she’s good with it and she doesn’t flinch away when she’s not expecting it.” Tori explained, smiling.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that you two are making it work.” André said, smiling back at her.

“Same to you!” Tori chimed, punching her best friend’s shoulder lightly. Just then, her phone buzzed with a new message. She pulled it out and groaned when she saw it was from Trina.

**_T: Hurry up and get out here, I have a nail appointment at 3:30 and I don’t have time to wait around for you_ **

Tori rolled her eyes. “I gotta go, Trina’s getting impatient again.” She sighed, pushing herself off the wall.

“Alright, I’ll see you later!” André said, waving goodbye as Tori walked to the door.

“Later!” She called back, turning and leaving the classroom. She quickly walked through the halls, just to make sure Trina wouldn’t yell at her even more for walking too slow.

———

A few hours and two shopping trips later, Tori and Trina were back home. Trina was up in her room, probably on the phone and begging a popular guy to give her a chance, while Tori was sitting on the couch with a bowl of macaroni resting on her legs. She had ‘ _ Drake and Josh _ ’ playing on the TV, and she absentmindedly scrolled through posts on TheSlap.

She nearly threw her bowl of macaroni when her phone rang loudly, causing her to drop the phone. Recovering from her mini heart attack, she picked it up and answered it.

“Hello?”

_ “Hey, it’s Jade.” _

Tori smiled at the sound of her fake-girlfriend’s voice. “What’s up?”

_ “‘What’s up?’ That’s all you can think of to greet your girlfriend?” _ Jade asked, pretending to be offended.

“I-I’m sorry…” Tori sighed. “Wait, you never call me. Is something wrong?!” She suddenly sat up in alarm.

_ “Quit buggin’! Everything’s fine. Is it illegal for me to call my fake-girlfriend?” _

Tori laughed. “Nope, I’m just surprised. So why’d you call?”

_ “I wanted to ask if you’d be down to see a movie tomorrow night… or something like that…” _

Tori grinned. “Are you asking me out on a  _ daaate _ ?” She cried. Up until now, Tori was always the one to ask to go on dates because she knew Jade was too shy to ask (Jade would never say that out loud, though), and excitement bubbled inside her at the thought of Jade finally warming up to her.

_ “Maybe…” _ Jade’s reply was barely audible over the phone.  _ “Just say whether you want to or not!” _ Typical Jade came back as she snapped at Tori.

“I’d love to.” Tori murmured. She could practically see Jade blushing on the other end of the phone.

_ “G-good. I’ll pick you up at 5:30 tomorrow. And you better be ready by then.” _ Jade said, and Tori could tell that she was attempting to cover up her nervousness with her usual sharp attitude. The brunette tried to convince herself that she did  _ not _ find it adorable.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be ready.” Tori giggled.

“Tori! Who are you talking to?!” Trina screamed from her room. The sound of footsteps could be heard approaching the stairs.

Tori groaned. “I gotta go. Talk to you later.” She said into the phone.

There was a laugh heard from Jade’s side.  _ “Good luck dealing with Trina.” _ She said.

“Thanks, I’ll definitely need it.” Tori huffed.

Another laugh, then,  _ “Bye babe.” _ There was a click, signaling the end of the phone call. Tori felt slightly saddened now that she wasn’t listening to Jade’s voice, but more importantly she felt her chest tighten at the word ‘babe’. Somehow, it felt so natural to hear it coming from her fake-girlfriend.

Tori was dragged out of her thoughts by Trina stomping down the stairs. Her sister looked at her in confusion.

“Weren’t you just talking to someone?” She questioned.

“No, I’ve just been sitting here, eating macaroni and watching  _ Drake and Josh _ .” Tori replied, trying to sound convincing.

“But I swear…” Trina began, then trailed off. “Whatever, I don’t care anyway.”

Tori furrowed her brows, but decided not to respond. She turned back to the TV and pretended to be focused on the show, and before long her sister was marching back upstairs and to her room.

She let out a sigh of relief. Throughout the whole almost-four weeks her and Jade have been fake-dating, somehow Trina hadn’t found out about them. Although she was usually too busy fawning over herself to pay attention to anyone else, anyway.

Tori yawned, realizing how tired she was. She turned the TV off and stood up, putting her empty bowl in the sink before going up to her room. She threw on some pajamas and hopped into bed, her head buzzing with excitement for her date with Jade tomorrow. She didn’t know why, but she was more nervous than usual. She cast the thought aside, feeling tiredness dragging at her body, and soon she was sound asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**a/n: thank y'all so, so much for the support, it means so much to me <3**

**this chapter is a bit of a filler, but don’t worry, things are definitely gonna heat up soon ;)**

* * *

**5 - Jade's POV**

Jade had woken up feeling more giddy than she normally did - and she _never_ felt giddy. It was as if she were excited for something.

' _It's gotta be something happening in class, and definitely_ not _the date later tonight.'_ She figured. But she couldn't help but feel butterflies in her stomach at the thought of the date. She still couldn't believe she managed to muster up enough courage to ask Tori; although Jade would never admit that she had been scared to ask her in the first place.

She cast her thoughts aside and grabbed her bag. She gave a quick 'goodbye' to her father, who merely glanced at her and continued reading the newspaper. Letting out a sigh, she slammed the door behind her - ignoring the faint yelling of her dad - and left for school.

About halfway to school, her phone rang. Without looking away from the road, she answered it and put it on speaker phone.

"What?" She grumbled - that was her natural start to phone calls.

" _Jade? It's Tori. Are you almost at school?"_ Came the reply.

"Almost, why? Do you miss me?" Jade teased. She could hear Tori struggling for words, and Jade knew that what she said was true.

" _N-no! I just… have your hairbrush! You left it at my house the other day, a-and I wanted to return it."_ Tori finally stuttered.

Jade rolled her eyes as she pulled into the parking lot. "Sure, I'll just pretend I believe you." She scoffed. She got out of her car, grabbing her phone and taking it off of speaker. "I just got to school, I'll see you soon." She said. She waited for Tori to say goodbye, then hung up.

She walked into school and rounded the corner to her locker, jumping slightly when she saw Tori waiting for her.

"Damn, you must've really missed me to be standing at my locker." Jade commented, nudging her fake-girlfriend aside so she could put her books in the locker.

Tori blushed, crossing her arms. "I told you, I didn't miss you!" She exclaimed.

"And I told you I'd pretend to believe you." Jade shot back, closing the locker and leaning against it. She watched as Tori dropped her gaze, then raised it to look at Jade's hand.

She sighed, then held out her hand to Tori. "I know you want to." She muttered, a pink blush dusting her cheeks. Tori looked up to meet Jade's eyes, and the brunette gave a small smile before lacing their hands together.

A little ways away, the rest of their friends watched them. They had felt the shifted air between the fake-couple, and they didn't want to interrupt them. As they saw the girls' conversation start to slow, they approached them and tried to make it seem like they weren't just spying on the girls.

"Hiiiiii!" Cat practically screamed.

"How are the lovebirds?" Rex taunted, and Jade threw the puppet a nasty glare to silence him.

André and Beck exchanged glances with a laugh, and this time Tori was the one to glare at them. Eventually everyone quieted down, though, aside from the occasional snickers from Rex.

"Nothing's going on between us." Jade snapped. Tori nodded in agreement.

"C'mon, if you're gonna lie, you've at least gotta make it believable!" Rex cackled. Jade swiftly took a pair of scissors out of her bag and cut a chunk of hair off Rex's head.

"Jade!" Robbie whimpered. Jade just smirked and handed him the hair.

Tori rolled her eyes and gently hip-checked her fake-girlfriend. "Oh, lighten up," she murmured. "They can think whatever they want, but _nothing is going on_!" She said the last part louder so the rest of the group could hear. Jade only sighed and lightly squeezed Tori's hand.

"Keep tellin' yourselves that." Beck laughed, grinning at the two girls. Jade scowled at him, and Tori squeezed her hand to calm her down.

"And what about you two?" Jade asked, eyeing their competition.

"It's going great, thanks for asking." Beck wrapped his arm around André, giving him a small kiss on the forehead. Jade snorted, her eyes flicking between the fake-boyfriends.

The bell rang out, and the gang said their goodbyes before parting ways. Jade and Tori luckily had the same first period - science. They made their way to the class, hand in hand.

Jade was tense, and she knew that Tori felt it, because the brunette slowed her pace and turned to her.

"Don't let them get to you." She said quietly. She gently rubbed her thumb across the back of Jade's hand in an attempt to comfort her, and she relaxed slightly.

"I'm not worried about them." Jade muttered, pulling Tori along behind her as they continued through the halls. What she _was_ worried about, however, was whether it was true. Was there actually something going on between them? She looked at Tori, who was now walking at her side. _'No, that's impossible. She's sweet little Tori, and I'm mean, sarcastic Jade. We are absolutely not compatible whatsoever. There can't be anything going on.'_ She mused to herself.

She was so lost in thought, she didn't realize that they made it to their class. She snapped out of it once Tori nudged her.

"You okay?" The brunette asked with concern. Jade nodded and pushed her way inside before Tori could ask anything else. They found two empty seats, and collapsed into them as they waited for class to start.

The class went by rather quickly. The only interesting thing that happened was that the students were assigned a partner project which was due tomorrow. Jade had rolled her eyes and thought, _'Just 'cause we're a performing arts high school doesn't mean we're superhumans and can do a whole ass project in one night.'_ However, she had perked up when she was partnered with Tori. Not because she was excited to work with Tori, oh no! But because Tori was the only person she knew in the class.

Their next classes were different from each other's, so they had to go their separate ways. _'She used up her one hand-hold pretty quickly.'_ Jade thought smugly as she walked away from her fake-girlfriend. Not that she cared, anyway. She was just glad that she didn't have to hold Tori's hand for any longer. But deep down, she kinda missed the feeling of their hands intertwined, and the warmth and softness of Tori's small hand.

She sighed quietly, and pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind before walking into her next class.

—

Jade's next classes were just as boring as any other day, maybe even more so. She tuned out everything within the first minute of each class, wishing the day could somehow go faster.

After what felt like months, the bell finally rang for lunch, and she grabbed her bag and bolted out the door. For some reason, she was in more of a hurry than usual to get to lunch.

She was so busy rushing through the halls, she almost didn't see Tori in front of her until she felt the familiar hands grab her arms.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Slow down! Is everything okay?" Tori demanded.

As soon as Tori's hands touched Jade's arms, she relaxed at the warmth that spread through her body. "Yeah… yeah I'm alright." She murmured, giving a small smile. "I just couldn't stand how boring my classes were."

"Oh come on, Jade. Just admit that you missed me." Tori coaxed.

"I'd admit it if it were true. And besides, we just saw each other this morning, why would I miss you so soon?" Jade retorted.

"You never know…" Tori said with a shrug. "Now let's go, the others are waiting for us."

"Yeah, yeah." Jade muttered. Side by side, the two girls made their way to the Asphalt Café. Just before they got outside, Tori stopped and turned towards Jade.

"Our date!" She exclaimed.

"Keep it down, would ya?!" Jade hissed, looking around to see if anyone heard. The last thing she wanted people to know was that her and Tori were going on a date.

Tori rolled her eyes, dismissing Jade's protest. "How are we gonna go on our date? We have to do our science project and it's due tomorrow!" She said in a more hushed voice.

Jade frowned. She didn't think about how the project would affect their date, and she honestly didn't want to cancel the date - she would probably never get the confidence to ask Tori on a date again. She thought for a moment, then said, "We can still go on our date, don't worry. We'll just… go back to your house afterwards and work on the project."

"But it'll be late by then…" Tori sighed.

"Well, I'm no stranger to staying up till ungodly hours of the night." Jade stated. "As long as you can handle it, that's gonna be our plan."

"Of course I can handle it!" Tori huffed.

"Good. Now let's get out there. We don't want our friends to think that we're making out in the janitor's closet." Jade said, ushering Tori through the doors and towards their normal lunch spot.

"There y'all are!" André exclaimed as the girls sat down.

"Where were you guys?" Cat asked.

"My teacher held my class back for a few minutes." Jade lied, taking a bite of her burrito that she got from the Grub Truck.

"Uh-huh. And you're sure you weren't in the janitor's closet?" Rex questioned.

"Rex!" Robbie scolded. He then turned to Jade and Tori with an apologetic expression. Jade glared at him while Tori gave him a forgiving smile.

"You guys weren't in there, right?" Beck looked at the two girls with suspicion.

"No!" They both cried.

Beck held up his hands in defense. "Alright alright!"

The table fell into silence as everyone went back to their food. Jade liked this setting way better than other days - the days when everyone was talking over each other.

As lunch drew to an end, everyone had finished their food and were now taking part in some random conversation. Jade didn't make much of an effort to pay attention, instead unknowingly focusing on Tori and how she interacted with everyone. Her smile was soft and warm, practically radiating sunshine, her perfect cheekbones standing out amongst her other features. Her eyes were alight with happiness, and she seemed completely at ease as she talked with the group. Her laugh sent shivers up Jade's spine; it was like music to her ears.

She dragged herself out of her trance once she heard the voices at the table die down. Her gaze flicked across the group and she realized everyone was staring at her. _'Great, they caught me drooling over Tori. Think fast, Jade…'_

"Oh sorry, I was distracted by Tori's pimple." She said, smoothly covering up her initial panic. Luckily, they bought it - surprisingly, even Rex - and they didn't question it. Tori frowned at Jade, looking slightly offended. Jade mouthed the word 'sorry', placing a hand on the brunette's knee in hopes to comfort her. Tori visibly relaxed at her touch, and she smiled at Jade.

Jade stiffened as she felt Tori's hand hesitantly wrap around hers, the familiar touch sending electricity through her veins. Taken aback, she looked at Tori with shock, and the Latina merely shrugged. Her hand gave Jade's a tight squeeze, showing how unsure she was of breaking the 'one hand-hold per day' rule.

They were so absorbed in their own little world, they didn't hear André whisper to Beck, "There they go again."

"They should just stop denying their feelings and admit they like each other." Beck whispered back, and André nodded in agreement.

"Are they gonna do this every time?" Robbie asked the two boys. They both responded with shrugs.

"If we're being honest, probably." Beck answered.

The bell rang, and the group picked up their bags before heading to Sikowitz's class, Jade and Tori trailing at the very back.

"So since you haven't cut off my hand with scissors, I'm guessing you're okay with this?" Tori asked, winking.

Jade hesitated, frustrated that she was letting Tori hold her hand more than once that day. "…Maybe." She finally grumbled.

Tori beamed, and Jade's frustration instantly melted away. "See, I knew you missed holding my hand!" The brunette chirped. Jade rolled her eyes, blushing.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Don't make it an everyday thing, though, otherwise I might actually have to cut off your hand." She threatened. Tori pushed her face close to Jade's tauntingly.

"I dare you to try." She giggled, then bounced into Sikowitz's room, dragging Jade with her. The goth sighed defeatedly, suppressing a smile. There was no way she could stay mad at Tori when the brunette was this happy.

—

Jade and Tori walked out of the classroom as the last bell of the day rang. The rest of their friends joined them a moment later.

"You guys wanna hang at Nozu?" Beck asked as the group stopped in front of Tori's locker.

"Sure, babe." André said, wrapping his arm around Beck's waist. Beck smiled down at him, and laid his own arm across André's shoulders.

"I could go for sushi!" Robbie piped up.

"Aw Rob, but I wanna go home and take a nap!" Rex protested.

"Alright alright, I'll drop you off at home before I go to Nozu." Robbie sighed.

"I'd love to go, but my parents aren't home so I have to watch over my brother and make sure he doesn't burn down the house." Cat said sadly, and Robbie rubbed her back comfortingly.

"How about you two?" André asked, turning to Jade and Tori.

Tori opened her mouth to say something, but Jade quickly spoke up. "We can't, we have a science project to work on."

Tori looked at Jade with confusion. Jade stared back, silently hoping the brunette would catch onto her plan; it technically wasn't a lie, though. And anyway, they both had to get ready for their date, and whenever the group went out for sushi, they ended up losing track of time and spending at least 5 hours there.

Luckily, Tori finally understood what Jade was getting at, and looked back to the group. "Yeah, it's a really big project and it's due tomorrow." She said, then added, "But maybe next time!"

"For sure!" André nodded. "So I guess it'll be a guys day today, then." He continued, looking at Beck and Robbie.

"Awesome! I can't remember the last time we had one of those." Robbie said excitedly. The three boys bid their goodbyes to the group, and soon they disappeared through the front doors, closely followed by Cat.

Jade turned to Tori. "Come on, we oughta start getting ready for tonight." She murmured. Tori nodded, and they walked out of the school, their hands still gently wrapped together.


	6. Chapter 6

**6 - Jade's POV**

Jade had gotten home about an hour ago. She immediately took a shower, and was now frantically tearing her closet apart trying to find a good outfit for the date. If this were any other date, she wouldn't have cared what she wore; but this time felt different. Her nervousness returned as soon as she got home, and it only grew as 5:30 got closer and closer.

She didn't know whether to dress casual, fancy, or somewhere in between. She held up two different black skirts and compared them in the mirror. After a minute, she threw them onto her bed with a groan. _'This is a lot harder than I thought…'_

Almost thirty minutes later, she finally found an outfit that she thought could be considered "casual-fancy"; a laced, short black dress, and a pair of black tights worn underneath it. She picked out a nice pair of boots - not one of her lace-up ones, but velvet ones that she'd never worn before - and added a black leather jacket to the outfit, just to make sure she didn't seem too fancy.

Jade plugged in her curling iron and started working on her hair, and by some miracle, her hair managed to curl perfectly. She tied half of her hair into a low ponytail and left the other half down. She began fixing every little thing, determined to make sure her hair looked perfect. About halfway through her hair grooming, she paused. _'Why am I so focused on looking good? It's no different from any of our other dates, so it shouldn't be this important…'_ But no matter how much she told herself that, she continued to adjust everything until it was just right.

Once she was done with her hair, she grabbed her makeup bag. Since she had already gone 'over the top' with the outfit and hair - at least, to her it was over the top - she decided to go with a natural makeup look.

Finishing with the foundation, concealer, and mascara, she went with a light brown eyeshadow, being careful not to make it too dark. She then topped off her look with a simple vanilla-flavored lip gloss.

Satisfied with her work, she glanced at the clock. It read _5:16_. She felt butterflies in her stomach as she gathered her stuff and left the house; luckily neither of her parents were home, so they couldn't ask where she was going or why she was so dressed up. She texted Tori that she was on her way, then got in her car and began the ride to Tori's house. Right now she really wished they didn't live as close as they did.

—

A few minutes later, Jade pulled into the driveway. She took a deep breath, still confused as to why she was so nervous. Jade West _never_ got nervous, especially for a date.

She checked the time on her phone, and it displayed _5:26_. She stepped out of the car and slowly made her way to the door. Taking another breath, she roughly knocked on the door - which is another thing she hardly ever did, since the gang usually just walked in whenever they wanted. But that was definitely not the right thing to do at this moment.

There was a faint, _"Coming!"_ , and the sound of footsteps were heard hurrying to the door. Jade shifted from foot to foot as she waited anxiously. _'It's not too late to run.'_ She thought. But before she could consider it any more, the door was flung open.

Jade's eyes widened, and she stared at Tori, slightly gaping. The brunette was wearing a loose-fitting red dress that came down to her mid-thighs, a dark brown sweater worn over top of it, and complete with brown lace-up ankle boots. Her hair was the normal wavy and let down, but it was much more neatly done, as if she spent a while getting it right.

"You look… nice." Jade murmured.

"T-thank you… You do too." Tori returned, giving a shy smile. Jade held out her hand to Tori.

"Shall we get going? The movie starts at 6, and we wouldn't wanna be late." She said. Tori perked up, and eagerly took Jade's hand in her own. She stepped outside and closed the door, following Jade to her car.

"I see you didn't bring the shovel this time." She joked as she got in. Jade scoffed, sliding into the driver's seat.

"I only did that to scare you." She assured the Latina.

"Uh-huh." Tori rolled her eyes. Jade just sighed, and pulled out of the driveway.

"So what movie are we seeing?" Tori asked after a few minutes of silence.

" _It_." Jade replied. She grinned as the brunette stiffened.

"What?!" She cried.

"I'm just kidding!" Jade laughed, rubbing Tori's arm comfortingly. "We're going to see the live action _The Lion King_." Tori relaxed, smiling.

"Wait, I thought you hate movies that aren't horror?" She questioned.

"I have different tastes! And anyway, I know you love Disney movies, and the animated version is the only Disney movie I can tolerate, so I figured it was a win-win for both of us." Jade explained.

"Aww how thoughtful!" Tori gushed. Jade snorted, a bright red blush appearing on her cheeks.

"Don't give me that mushy stuff." She muttered.

"Aw, you know you like it." Tori chimed, gently poking Jade's arm.

The goth grumbled something that was too quiet to make out, then said more loudly, "Shut up…"

Tori sat back in satisfaction, and they rode the rest of the way to the theater in a comfortable silence.

Soon, they were at the theater, and Jade pulled into a parking spot. The two girls got out, and Tori was practically bouncing with excitement. Jade smiled to herself and slid her hand into Tori's.

"Come on, miss Bunny, the movie's gonna start soon." She said, gently pulling her towards the doors.

"'Bunny'… that's cute." Tori murmured, smiling at Jade.

She looked at the Latina sharply. "We are absolutely _not_ going to give each other nicknames." She growled. "The best you're gonna get from me is 'babe'."

Tori looked slightly saddened, but it was short-lived as she instantly brightened when they got into the movie theater. Jade handed Tori a ticket, and they bought popcorn before going to the designated theater. They picked two open seats at the top, and waited for the movie to start.

Jade glanced over at Tori, seeing her eyes twinkling with delight. The brunette turned to Jade with possibly the widest grin she'd ever seen. Jade gave a smile in return, gently squeezing Tori's hand. Her stomach felt like it was filled with a million butterflies, and yet she felt genuinely content being there with Tori.

—

Two hours later, the movie was finished. Somewhere near the beginning, Tori ended up leaning her head on Jade's shoulder, and for once the goth was okay with it.

Tori slowly brought her head off of Jade's shoulder and shakily stood up, closely followed by Jade. They walked out of the smaller theater, their hands still tightly clasped together. They reached the lobby of the building, and Tori turned to Jade.

"I kinda don't wanna start working on our project yet…" She began. Jade smirked, catching onto what she was suggesting.

"Wanna get some dinner?" She asked.

"You read my mind." Tori replied with a smile, nudging Jade slightly.

They left the movie theater and drove to the Olive Bargain, which was Jade's second favorite place to eat (her first was Nozu, of course). Luckily, the restaurant was rather empty, so almost as soon as they got in, a waitress led them to a table. They sat down and scanned the menu, although Jade already knew what she was going to order; she always got the fettuccini alfredo every time she came here.

The waitress came over and asked for their drinks. Jade asked for just water while Tori wanted lemonade. _'Of course she'd order that, it's such a Tori drink.'_ The waitress left to get their drinks and to give them time to figure out what they were going to eat.

"Do you know what you want?" Tori asked, glancing up at Jade.

"Yep, the fettuccini alfredo. I always get it." She answered, setting her menu down. "What about you?"

"I can't choose between the shrimp scampi or the lasagne." Tori groaned.

"Okay, pick a number, either one or two." Jade stated. She watched as Tori thought carefully about her choice.

"Two." She finally said.

"Shrimp scampi."

"Okay!" Tori chirped.

The waitress came back with their drinks, then took their food orders. When she was done, she took their menus off the table and disappeared to the kitchen. Jade and Tori decided to pass the time by talking about whatever came to mind. Jade was honestly having a great time talking and laughing with Tori, and her nerves had almost completely melted away. They were both relaxed and everything felt so natural between them.

Soon, the waitress came to their table with their food, and they thanked her before absorbing themselves in the delicious food. In what seemed like five minutes, they had both finished their food, and were now contentedly sitting there as they waited for the check.

"I'll pay for dinner." Jade said, taking out her wallet.

"Don't be ridiculous! You paid for the movies, so the least I can do is pay for the food." Tori insisted. Jade thought for a moment, then sighed.

"Fine, but I'm paying next time." She huffed.

"Deal."

The check was quickly brought to them, and Tori slid the money - plus a tip - in the little black case. They picked up their things and left the restaurant. Jade checked the time, and saw that it was almost 9pm.

"Okay, now we've really gotta go work on our project." She remarked, getting in the car. Tori nodded, following close behind her.

"Yeah, alright." She sighed.

Midway through the drive to Tori's house, Jade carefully laid a hand on Tori's leg, and noticed the brunette stiffened and began to blush.

"My hands aren't only good for holding." She murmured. She gave a sidelong glance at Tori and saw her blush deepen, and she knew exactly what the other girl was thinking. Jade gave her a smug grin, her eyes returning to the road.

A little while later, they got to Tori's house. Jade parked her car, reaching behind her and getting her school bag from the backseat, and Tori led the way into the house.

"Before you ask, no, Trina's not home. And neither are my parents." She said, turning to Jade.

Jade sighed with relief. "Thank God. I can't stand Trina. Sometimes she can be worse than you." She teased, winking at Tori. The brunette merely rolled her eyes.

"Oh shut up." She scoffed. Jade only gave a satisfied shrug.

"Alright, let's start on this stupid project." Tori ushered Jade to her room, closing the door once they were inside. Fairy lights decorated the ceiling, casting a dim glow across the room. Jade had to admit, it was kinda pretty.

The girls sat down on Tori's bed, pulling out everything they needed for their science class and promptly getting to work. Tori hooked up her phone to her speaker and put on music to play in the background as they worked.

—

Four and a half hours later, they were putting the finishing touches on their project. They were more exhausted than they'd ever been, but yet they had to force themselves to stay awake to make sure everything was done.

"I think we got everything…" Tori mumbled, surveying their finished project. She carefully set it on the ground, making sure it wasn't harmed on the way down.

Jade nodded, watching her. "It looks good. Not bad, Tori." She said, gently nudging Tori's knee. She smiled at Jade, blushing.

"You didn't do too bad, yourself." She murmured.

Jade's eyes met Tori's, and she couldn't help but get lost in them. She always thought her eyes were pretty, but as she stared into them, she realized that they were a special kind of pretty. They were beautiful chocolate pools, as if milk chocolate and dark chocolate had been mixed together to create her soft, warm gaze. Tori slowly blinked, and her eyes glinted in the glow of the fairy lights, drawing Jade in even further. Her own pale green eyes gleamed in the light, shining with an unknown desire. Tori stared back at Jade intently, and Jade could see the same feeling reflected in those brown eyes.

She didn't realize how close they were until she felt Tori's arm brushing against hers. She could feel Tori's breath as it fluttered across her nose, and she smelled the sweet scent of cherry, with a hint of honey. By now they were only centimeters away from each other, and Jade closed the distance between them as she leaned in, capturing Tori's lips in a soft kiss. The music in the background seemed to amplify as Tori eagerly kissed back…

_**So take me to the paradise, in your eyes, green like American money** _

…Vanilla mixed with cherry and honey as their lips moved in sync…

_**You taste just right, sweet like Tennessee honey** _

…Jade wrapped her hands around Tori's waist as Tori's hands gripped the back of Jade's neck, slowly tangling them in her hair. Jade gently pushed Tori onto her back, their lips staying connected as Jade maneuvered to hold herself above Tori.

They pulled away after a few moments, gasping for air. Tori looked at Jade through dazed, half-lidded eyes.

"I thought you said no kissing…" She murmured, although she definitely didn't seem like she was complaining.

"I did," Jade replied. "But, since I made the rules…" She lowered her head until she was right by Tori's ear. "…I sure as hell can change them." She whispered huskily, and she felt Tori shiver at her tone.

She smirked, then pulled Tori back in for another kiss. Their lips fervently moved in unison, as if they'd been waiting for this moment forever. As their kiss gradually deepened, Jade flicked her tongue across Tori's lips, and she parted them slightly. Jade's tongue slipped inside - earning a gasp from Tori - and she didn't hesitate to explore. Their tongues seemed to dance together in the room's soft, dim glow, and as Jade's tongue grazed the roof of Tori's mouth, the brunette let out a muffled moan, her hands tightening in Jade's hair. Jade slowly ran her hands along Tori's waist, then gently slipped them beneath her shirt. Tori squirmed at the contact, letting out another small moan.

Eventually, they broke apart again, their chests heaving as they fought for air. Jade managed to carefully shift herself from hovering above Tori, and she slid off the bed. She picked up her bag and turned to Tori.

"That was nice, we should do it again sometime." She winked at her fake-girlfriend before walking out of the room. She grabbed her keys off the coffee table as she left Tori's house, and slowly got in her car.

She sighed as she began driving back to her house. She gingerly touched a finger to her lips, smiling as she could still taste the lingering flavor of Tori's lip gloss.


	7. Chapter 7

**7 - Tori's POV**

Tori felt rooted to her bed, her head spinning from what just happened. She tried to comprehend everything, but with her high emotions paired with her dragging exhaustion, her mind was basically mush. She rubbed her eyes, trying to convince herself that she imagined it all. That her and Jade did nothing but work on their project, and that they _definitely_ didn't end up making out on her bed at 1:30am. But despite everything, it kept replaying in her head, over and over again. She sighed as she came to the conclusion that it all actually happened.

Tori laid on her back with a groan. She was still wearing her dress from their date, but she didn't particularly feel like taking it off at the moment.

Her lips still tasted like Jade, of her sweet vanilla kisses that left Tori wanting more, _craving_ more. She didn't realize how badly she'd wanted to kiss Jade until their lips finally locked together, and now it was all Tori could think about. She wished Jade could've stayed longer, could've kissed her for a little while more, and their clothes would've ended up on the floor and-

' _Whoa whoa whoa!'_ Tori stopped herself mid-thought. _'That's going wayyy too far.'_ Her head began to hurt as she thought about their make-out session, and she figured now was a good time to try and sleep. Maybe she'll just forget about all this. She screwed her eyes shut, hoping that by tomorrow she could make some sense of this mess.

—

Tori's alarm sounded, and she grabbed around for her phone to turn it off. She groaned as the memories from last night came rushing back. She sat up, squirming at the uncomfortable dress that she was still wearing. _'Maybe I shouldn't have kept this on.'_ She hastily took it off, and was instantly hit with the smell of vanilla. She paused in confusion. Holding her dress up to her nose, she took a deep sniff. _'Yep, that's it.'_ She figured it must've been from Jade's lip gloss.

' _Her lip gloss…'_ Tori's thoughts, of course, wandered back to last night again. It felt so unreal, so different from what they've been doing. She was definitely caught off guard by Jade's change in behavior, but she wasn't complaining: her fingers tangled in Jade's hair as their lips moved in harmony; Jade's incredibly soft hands as they delicately grazed her waist; each of their eyes shining with desire, with _need_ …

Tori let out a pleasant hum as she recalled everything. _'Maybe we'll finally do more than just hold hands."_ Her heart fluttered at the thought, but soon sank as another thought pushed its way into her mind. _'It was 1:30 in the morning, and we were both tired. She probably wasn't thinking straight, and she definitely wouldn't wanna do it again.'_ She sighed.

' _Wait, why do I even care?! It doesn't matter, because I don't like her. It's perfectly fine if we don't kiss again!'_ She snorted. It didn't mean anything, so she'd forget about it soon… right?

She stood up from her bed and threw her dress in the laundry basket. She dug through her clothes until she found a decent outfit, and quickly got ready for school. Going down the stairs, she saw Trina sitting on the couch eating cereal, and she turned to Tori as the brunette got to the kitchen.

"How come Jade was over here so late last night?" Trina demanded. Tori almost dropped her cereal bowl in panic.

"W-what? What do you mean…?" She stammered.

"Don't play dumb, I know she was here. I passed by her car as she left." Trina stood up and put her empty bowl in the sink, moving out of the way as Tori opened the fridge for milk.

"Oh… w-we were just working on a science project that's due today." She explained. "Speaking of which, I gotta go get it from my room!" She quickly ran back to her room, then came back a few moments later. "See?" She held up the project for her sister to see.

Trina hesitated, then rolled her eyes. "Yeah whatever. Just hurry up and eat so we can leave." She huffed.

Tori happily obliged, grateful that she somehow kept her cool throughout Trina's pestering. She soon finished her cereal and set her bowl in the sink, then put on her shoes.

"Alright, I'm ready." She said. Trina grabbed her keys from the coffee table.

"Then let's go!" She practically shoved Tori out the door and into her car.

"Hey! You could at least be a little more gentle!" Tori snapped.

"I could… but I won't."

"Just drive."

—

Trina pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later, and Tori jumped out of the car with the project in hand.

"Jeez, what's your hurry?" Trina grumbled.

"I gotta… turn in the project!" Tori lied.

"Right." Her sister scoffed. Tori rolled her eyes and walked into school, rounding the corner to Jade's locker.

Jade was already there, and she shut her locker when she heard Tori approaching. "Hi babe." She murmured, smiling.

Tori blushed and smiled back. "H-hey." She echoed. Jade motioned to the project, and the brunette held it out to her. "Here it is!"

"Looks even better in the daylight." Jade said, nodding. "We did good."

"Yeah we did!" Tori cried. Her smile faded and was replaced with a more serious expression, her eyes locking with Jade's. "So um, about last night, after we finished the project…" She began hesitantly.

Jade frowned. "I knew you'd ask about that sooner or later." She muttered. "Listen, I-"

"Hey guys!"

They turned around to see Beck and André walking towards them. The girls exchanged glances.

"Can we talk later?" Tori whispered.

"Yeah, sure." Jade whispered back. They both smiled as the boys reached them.

"Nice project!" André exclaimed. Beck nodded in agreement.

"And you did all that last night?" He questioned. The girls nodded.

"Yep. Stayed up till 1:30am." Tori confirmed.

"Hiiiii!" Cat bounced up to them, closely followed by Robbie. "Ooh, cool project!" She chirped.

"Thanks." Jade said simply.

"So how was your 'guys night'?" Tori asked, looking at André, Beck, and Robbie.

"It was good! We sang a little karaoke, had some top notch sushi, and just hung out for a while!" Robbie explained.

"Yeah, and I had a good nap." Rex chimed in. Everyone rolled their eyes at the puppet's comment. They continued talking until the bell rang, then they went off to their separate classes. Tori and Jade headed towards the science classrooms.

"Are you ready to turn this in and get the best grade ever?!" Tori squealed.

"Hell yeah I am. Just, tone it down a little bit, would ya?" Jade advised.

Tori shoved her shoulder lightly. "Whatever. I know you love it when I'm excited." She teased.

"W-what? I never said that." Jade dismissed, turning away with a blush.

"I dunno…" Tori sang, bouncing ahead of her fake-girlfriend. She watched as Jade merely rolled her eyes, following the brunette into the classroom.

—

"There you are!" Tori sighed. She had been waiting at her locker for Jade - because she promised to take Tori home - and after 15 minutes the raven-haired girl finally came around the corner.

"Yep, enjoy it while you can." Jade said with a wink, slipping her hand in Tori's. They walked out to the parking lot together, stopping at Jade's car.

"You sure Trina's not gonna take you home?" Jade asked.

"Yeah, she's out with some friends or something. She probably won't be home for a while." Tori explained, then smirked. "Why, do you have a problem with taking me home?"

"N-no, it's totally fine! I don't mind." Jade murmured, shifting her gaze to her shoes. Tori grinned, running her hand down the other girl's arm.

"Good, now let's get going!" She giggled. Jade rolled her eyes and unlocked the car, laughing as Tori basically threw herself in the passenger seat.

They reached Tori's house in a few minutes, and Jade parked her car in the driveway. Tori looked at her, and saw that the goth was staring at her expectantly.

"Well? We're here, so are you gonna get out?" Jade motioned to the house.

Tori looked away shyly. "You can stay, if you want…" She said quietly. In the corner of her eye, she saw Jade perk up slightly, as if she was hoping Tori asked her to stay.

"Sure, why not." The goth said, and Tori knew she was trying to play it cool.

"Oh come on Jade, you can be a little excited once in a while, y'know?" She scoffed.

"Let's just get in the house." Jade muttered. They got out of the car, idly talking as they walked into Tori's house.

"Popcorn?" Tori offered, walking to the kitchen and pulling a bag out of the pantry.

"You got soda too?" Jade asked, draping herself across the couch.

"Just for you, babe." Tori winked and threw a soda to her fake-girlfriend, then put the popcorn bag in the microwave.

A few minutes later, she settled herself next to Jade, holding the bowl of popcorn between them. Jade grabbed the TV remote and flipped through movies until they agreed on one to watch.

—

Hours later, the third movie was almost over. However, neither of the girls seemed to be paying any attention to the movie.

Tori's hands tightened in Jade's hair as the goth pulled Tori into her lap, and she wrapped her legs around Jade's waist. Their lips were once again locked together, both of them having been unable to resist the temptation barely after the second movie started.

Tori gasped as Jade's tongue slipped inside her mouth. Her hands left the back of Jade's head and slowly came to stroke her cheeks. They then traveled down her neck and glided along her arms, leaving goosebumps in their wake. She felt Jade shiver at her touch, and she smirked into the kiss as she pressed herself closer to the other girl. Jade's hands delicately snaked their way up Tori's shirt, and the brunette squirmed as the hands traced the underband of her bra.

They were basically melted together at this point, but yet Tori felt like they still weren't close enough; she wished Jade could be as close to her as possible. But there were questions that kept nagging at her in the back of her mind: _'How did we get here? What are we doing? Is there really something more?'_ She really didn't want to answer the last question, although deep down she knew what the answer was.

They were so absorbed in their moment, they hardly heard Trina open the door until they heard a loud, choking gasp. The two girls instantly tore away from each other, quickly putting some distance between them, all the while their faces turning twenty shades redder. But the damage was already done.

Trina was standing in the doorway, the door still swinging open. Her eyes looked like they were about to fall out of her head, and they glinted with anger. "What… the hell… is going on…?!" Trina screeched, looking between them. "Why was your tongue shoved in my sister's mouth?!" She turned her accusing glare to Jade, who merely stared at the ground for a moment.

"Y'know, I-I should really be going…" Jade started getting up, but Trina slammed the door shut and leaned against it, preventing either of them from leaving.

"One of you better start talking, _now_." Trina snarled, and they both hesitated. Finally, it was Tori who broke the uncomfortable silence.

"L-listen, please just let us explain." She pleaded, cautiously eyeing her sister.

" _Speak_." She hissed.

"It's an assignment from Sikowitz. Me and Jade, and André and Beck have to pretend to date each other for two months so we understand 'character dynamics'." Tori began shakily.

"He said we have to do anything a regular couple would do, and to do whatever we needed in order to last the full two months." Jade added tensely.

Trina narrowed her eyes, her glare flicking from each girl. "How do I know

you're not lying?" She finally growled. Tori and Jade exchanged panicked glances.

"U-um… I'll call André, since he's gotta do the challenge too!" Tori pulled out her PearPhone and quickly dialed her best friend's number. Luckily, he almost instantly picked up.

" _Yo Tori! What's up?"_ André greeted.

"André. Did me and Jade, and you and Beck, get challenged to have to date for two months?" Tori demanded.

" _Uh yeah, why…?"_ Came his confused response.

"Great, thanks!" Tori chimed, then whispered, "I'll explain later", before quickly hanging up. She and Jade turned to Trina.

"See? We're telling the truth." Tori soothed her sister. Trina's face twisted in uncertainty.

"And you're sure that's it? Nothing else is going on between you two?" She asked carefully. Both girls shook their heads 'no'. Trina studied then for a while longer, before finally relaxing. "Alright, I trust you, Tori. Jade not so much." She tossed a disdainful look at the goth, who gladly returned it.

Trina made her way to the stairs, giving them one last stern glare. "I just better not see you two doing… _that_ … again, otherwise we're gonna have a problem." She muttered, referring to the girls' make-out session. The fake-couple stiffly nodded in understanding and watched as Trina retreated to her room, probably to bleach her eyes. They slowly turned back to each other, their faces burning bright red.

"I-I should probably go…" Jade said quietly, grabbing her bag from beside the door. Tori nodded in agreement. She figured that the goth suffered enough trauma for today. She waved goodbye as Jade left, watching her car's headlights light up the darkened night.

Tori sat on the couch for a while, touching her lips as she felt them still tingling from kissing Jade. She fully intended to talk to Jade about what happened last night, but instead she got a repeat of that _plus_ more unanswered questions. She sighed, rubbing her forehead in frustration. Her thoughts were whirling at a million miles per second, trying to put everything together. But it all just felt like a one-thousand piece puzzle where the pieces didn't fit with any other piece.

' _Okay, one thing at a time.'_ She rationed to herself. _'When did this start? Last night. And until this afternoon, I thought that would've been the last time that happened. After all, we were both tired and couldn't think straight. And I was almost sure that she didn't want to do it again._

' _But obviously I was wrong about that. When we were making out just now, neither of us were tired - well, at least not tired enough for our thoughts to be jumbled. So that answers one question: she_ did _want to do it again. However, not only do I have no explanation for last night, I have zero explanation for this afternoon, too!_

' _There's also the question of why? Why has she suddenly decided that having her lips connected to mine is now one of her favorite pastimes? Does she maybe… like me?'_ Tori's heart skipped a beat at the idea of Jade West possibly liking her as more than a friend. Her cheeks flushed a pale red, but she shook her head slightly. _'That's impossible. She's all mean and tough, and I'm way too soft and nice for her.'_

She sat back, exasperated. She had no idea what could explain Jade's sudden shift in behavior. Sure, Tori didn't mind it - in fact, she actually liked how affectionate Jade was being - but it was so incredibly confusing. There was no doubt Jade must be feeling the same confusion.

A thought suddenly emerged from the corners of Tori's mind: _'The question is… do I have feelings for her?'_ She shifted a bit, slightly put off by the butterflies that awoke in her stomach. She knew she couldn't keep avoiding the answer she'd eventually have to give.

She was torn between admitting the answer or running from it, just for a little while longer. She kept going back and forth in her mind, as if an angle and a devil were on each shoulder, telling her the right versus the wrong. She sighed, soon giving in to the side she chose.

"I like Jade."


	8. Chapter 8

**a/n: this chapter was kinda all over the place butttt i had a different version of this chapter, however i rewrote it last minute... but still, i hope y'all like it :')**

* * *

**8 - Jade's POV**

Almost a week had passed since Trina walked in on Jade and Tori making out. That day, when Jade got home, she had gone straight to her room and screamed into a pillow for a while. She had eventually come to the conclusion that it wouldn't have been the end of the world if Trina told people - which, thankfully, she didn't.

The days following, Jade spent her time avoiding Tori and trying to decode her emotions. In all honesty, Jade was scared. She was scared of these new feelings for Tori and what they meant. This wasn't supposed to happen - she didn't intend to actually _like_ Tori, this whole fake-dating thing wasn't meant to be serious. It wasn't supposed to mean anything! So why are they making it such a big deal?

She had a lot more questions. First of all, why had she kissed Tori that night after they finished their project? And second, _why did she do it again later that afternoon_?! She knew that she and Tori were meant to talk about their first make-out session instead of turning it into a second one. She just didn't understand what came over her, what hypnotized her into kissing the brunette. Oh, and another question: why did she _like_ kissing Tori?! That was basically illegal for her.

And right now, she was apparently about to get all those questions answered.

Jade was standing at her locker, away from Tori and the rest of her friends. She was doing all she could to not look at Tori, hoping that Tori didn't suspect anything. But the cards were not in her favor.

She suddenly felt someone yank her arm, and before she knew it, she was in the janitor's closet, Tori standing in front of her - and the brunette did not look happy.

"What's your deal?!" Tori snapped.

"What are you talking about?" Jade asked, trying to make it seem like she didn't know.

"Don't play dumb. Why have you been avoiding me these past few days?"

"I've just needed time to think!"

"Think about what?! About how you left me in the dark - not once, but twice! - after you kissed me out of nowhere? Even though you were the one who didn't want anything to happen!?" Tori was fuming, and Jade felt a little bit guilty that she was the reason her fake-girlfriend was so mad. But now Jade was beginning to get mad, too. _'Is she serious right now?'_

"Actually no, I haven't been thinking about that." She hissed. "I've been thinking about how the kisses were a mistake! They should've never happened! And that they didn't mean anything!" She didn't even know what she was saying, and she really didn't have time to think about it right now.

Tori flinched, looking hurt. "They… didn't mean anything?"

"…No. They meant nothing. They were never supposed to happen."

Jade saw tears well in Tori's eyes, and for a split second, Jade regretted what she said.

"Well they meant something to me! They meant that someone actually cared about me! But I guess I should've known better, knowing you. And to think, we were actually getting somewhere with this." Tori whimpered, a tear threatening to fall.

Jade wanted to apologize. To hug Tori and say she didn't mean what she said. But the anger still lingered in her mind, and nothing was stopping it from controlling her words.

"There's nowhere to go with ' _this_ '! It was a stupid bet with Sikowitz. I don't even care about the bet anymore." Jade growled. Tori stayed silent, her expression rapidly changing from hurt to angry. The silence stretched on for what felt like years, until Jade couldn't take it.

"Just forget it. Forget all of this."

So maybe she wasn't going to get her questions answered.

With that, Jade stormed out of the closet, hiding her teary eyes from her friends as she ran by them. They stared after her, then back at the closet, knowing something bad happened between the girls.

—

As soon as Jade got home, she buried her face in her pillow, letting out the sobs that she'd been holding in.

She was stupid. So, so stupid. Why didn't she apologize? Why did she even say those things? She knew what she said about the kisses wasn't true - they did matter, a lot.

And she just broke Tori's heart while on her angry word-rampage.

That single thought made Jade cry harder, her whole body quivering as she mentally smacked herself. Why was she always like this, in every relationship?

After an hour of continuous crying, she shakily sat up. She caught sight of herself in the mirror: her hair was ragged, her eyes bloodshot, and streaks of dried mascara decorated her cheeks. She then looked to her phone, which she haphazardly threw onto the bed. She slowly reached for it and clicked Tori's contact name. Her finger hovered over the button, debating whether to call. A few more moments passed, before she set her phone down defeatedly. _'Tori hates me. Why would she want to talk to me?'_

Jade furrowed her brows, grabbing her phone again. She wasn't going to let this end like the others. She was going to fight for Tori.

She dialed Tori's number and held the phone to her ear, listening to it ring. She waited anxiously, hoping Tori would pick up. _'Please… I just want to hear her voice.'_

The call went to voicemail, and Jade laid a hand on her forehead. "Fuck…" She muttered. She sat back, staring at her reflection as she tried to figure out what to do.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind. "Flowers!" Jade whispered. As much as she hated getting gifts for whoever she dated, she knew that Tori was a sucker for flowers. _'What was her favorite…?'_ Jade had to think hard, digging in the depths of her memory. She perked up as she finally remembered it: dahlias.

She sprang to her feet and grabbed her keys from the floor, flying down the stairs and to the car. She sped off to the nearby grocery store, praying that they had at least one bouquet of dahlias, or even a potted one for all she cared.

In less than five minutes, she was parking her car and practically running into the store, making a beeline to where the flowers were. She scanned the multiple racks as she searched for a sign of a dahlia.

Jade's eyes eventually landed on the last bouquet of dahlias, and she sprang for it before anyone else could. She quickly paid for it, then ran back to her car, carefully setting the flowers in the passenger seat.

As she drove to Tori's, she thought of how ridiculous this was. She would've _never_ done this for anyone else. But yet she felt she had to do this for Tori, because she honestly couldn't bear the thought of being without the brunette - as cheesy as that sounded. Damn, when did she get so soft?

She finally reached Tori's house, and she stepped out with her flowers. She took a deep breath before approaching the door, giving three quick knocks. She stood nervously, her breath coming out short and ragged. _'What if Tori doesn't like the flowers? Or she just slams the door in my face? Or-'_

Just then, the door slowly opened. Tori stood on the other side, her hair messy and eyes puffy, showing that she had recently been crying - Jade realized that she herself didn't clean off her mascara stains or fix her hair.

Tori looked faintly surprised to see the goth, but didn't say anything. Jade held out the flowers to Tori, her hand trembling.

"I, uh, I got you your favorite flowers… I know you love dahlias because they remind you of pom-poms." Jade said quietly. Tori didn't move, only staring blankly at Jade. She lowered the flowers with a sigh. "Listen, could I please just… talk to you?" She asked desperately.

Tori stood aside, allowing Jade in. The goth sat on the couch and delicately put the flowers on the coffee table. She was surprised when Tori sat down next to her, staring at her expectantly.

Jade took a deep breath. She normally doesn't apologize to people, so she was praying she didn't mess up. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said in the janitor's closet. I wasn't even thinking about what I said, and I let my anger get the best of me. But I did mean what I said about needing time to process everything, because I was feeling all these new emotions and I didn't know how to deal with them. And the kisses… they did mean something - they still do. But I didn't know what exactly they meant, until now." Jade hesitated, knowing that what she was about to say would either make or break their already-fragile relationship. Tori looked at Jade, the anger and emptiness replaced with intrigue.

"The kisses meant that I do like you, a lot. More than I should. But what's not to like? You're pretty, talented, sweet, caring, understanding, kind-hearted… you're everything that I'm not. And I spent all this time running from the fact I liked you, because someone like you couldn't possibly have feelings for someone like me. But when I kissed you - both times - I freaked out and thought I went too far, scared you away. Because you're right, I did say I didn't want anything happening between us, but sometimes you just get caught up in the moment and you end up revealing all the things you tried to hide. And I was terrified that I had done that with you when I kissed you."

Jade closed her eyes as she finished, too scared to look at Tori and see anger, or disappointment, or whatever else someone would feel after all that. But she felt a small hand gently graze her arm, prompting her to open her eyes.

She was shocked to see Tori staring at her with warmth, a tiny smile visible on her lips.

"Jade… I get it. I know it must've been hard on you, and I'm sorry that I was insensitive earlier. And honestly, I was scared too. I felt like I was losing you. And I never, ever want to lose you, because I really do care about you. But it wouldn't have mattered whether you liked me or not, that wouldn't have changed anything between us." Tori murmured. Jade smiled slightly, laying her hand across Tori's.

"I do have one more thing to say, though," Tori looked away, a faint blush on her cheeks. Jade watched her, waiting expectantly. "I like you too. I wanted to tell you in the janitor's closet, but I somehow ended up yelling at you instead." She said, a bit guilty.

Jade's smile grew wider, and she rubbed the back of Tori's hand comfortingly. "It's okay, babe…" She whispered. Tori glanced at her, and their eyes met. As if they read each other's minds, they leaned in, and their lips connected in a soft but firm kiss. Jade wrapped her hands around Tori's waist as the brunette's arms hooked around Jade's neck. Jade savored the strawberry-tainted kiss as her hands moved up to graze Tori's back, and Jade never wanted to leave the couch ever again.


	9. Chapter 9

**9 - Jade's POV**

' _Hollywood Arts Enchanted Gala_

_Saturday 7:00pm_

_in the Asphalt Café'_

Jade slowed down as a flyer on the bulletin board caught her eye. She stopped in front of it, studying it carefully. Normally she wasn't interested in school dances - with the exception of Tori's "prome" - but this time she was actually considering going to it. Although she did find the theme a bit cheesy. _'"Enchanted"? Really, they couldn't have come up with something better?'_

She jumped slightly when she felt two arms wrap around her waist, and a soft breath tickled her neck. She turned to face the source, and saw two chocolate eyes staring back at her.

"You're thinking about going to the dance, hm?" Tori asked, raising her eyebrows in faint surprise.

"I guess, I mean I don't have anything better to do. I figured you'd probably be going with the rest of the group, so why not." Jade said nonchalantly. Tori smirked.

"Uh-huh, _right_." She murmured.

Jade frowned in irritation. "What? That's literally the reason." She huffed.

"Whatever you say." Tori sang, giving Jade a quick kiss on her cheek. "Anyway, I've gotta get going, Trina's gonna get suspicious if I take any longer." She released herself from Jade and began walking away, then turned back to the goth. "Oh, and don't forget you have to help me with my math later!" She reminded her.

Jade waved her hand dismissively. "Whatever. I'll make sure to not call you." Tori rolled her eyes at the remark, but turned around and continued out the doors.

Jade sighed, turning back to the flyer. She grabbed her PearPhone and took a picture of it so she could remember the details.

"So, the dance, huh?"

Jade whirled around to find Beck watching her. "Yeah, you got a problem with that?" She growled, crossing her arms.

"Nope, just surprised. You usually don't care about those." Beck replied, coming to stand beside Jade.

"What's wrong with a little change now and then?" Jade retorted.

"Nothing." Beck gave a small smile. "I think this is good for you."

"What's 'good' for me?"

"You, having to fake-date Tori."

Jade felt her cheeks heat up at the words 'fake-date'. She forgot that Beck didn't know about the two girls admitting their feelings for each other in the janitor's closet the other day. She looked away, trying to hide her blush - but she knew Beck could see it. "What are you talking about? Nothing's going on between us." She muttered.

"C'mon Jade. I know you know what I mean. Ever since Sikowitz made you two fake-date, you haven't been as hostile and snappy as usual." Beck pointed out. "We've all noticed both of you acting differently. Over a month ago, you hardly allowed Tori to touch you. But now you two are practically attached at the hip." Jade opened her mouth to protest, but Beck continued before she could say anything. "Don't think I haven't seen her stealing a kiss or two. And I've seen you hugging her much more, which is something you'd never do. I also noticed the smeared lipstick on both of you the other day. Are you sure nothing's going on between you two?" Beck leaned against the wall, already knowing he won.

Jade furrowed her brows in frustration. _'So maybe he did know more than he let on.'_ She thought. She figured she might as well tell Beck - even though they weren't dating anymore, she still trusted him; and it's not like he would care anyway. Her shoulders dropped in defeat. "Alright fine. The other day, when we were in the janitor's closet… we said we had feelings for each other." She sighed. She refused to look at Beck, not wanting to see his smug expression.

"I'm glad you both _finally_ worked everything out. We were all getting tired of you two avoiding your feelings for this long." Beck laughed, running a hand through his hair. Jade glanced at him sharply.

"What are you talking about this time?" She wondered, genuinely confused.

"This whole time, we've kinda figured that, deep down, Tori liked you. It was a bit iffy in the beginning, but our suspicions were confirmed when you, her, André, and I had to do that one play. And after that it was kind of obvious." Jade was listening in disbelief. There was no way Tori liked her for _that long_ , right?

"As for you, I knew that you were drawn to her the moment you saw her. You never admitted it, but you knew there was something different about her. But to protect yourself and me, you masked your feelings for her with hatred - let's face it though, you never really hated her." Beck smirked, crossing his arms. Jade was left speechless; he was right, no matter how much she hated it.

"Whatever…" She finally grumbled.

"I'm happy for you, I promise." Beck said, laying a hand on her shoulder. She just rolled her eyes and looked away.

"How about you? How are you and André?" She asked, turning the conversation onto him.

"Oh, we're great. We've been going out on a lot of dates lately. We just went on one last night, actually." Beck replied. "And he's been spending the night at my house more." Jade raised her eyebrows questioningly, to which Beck shook his head. "Not like that." He assured her.

"Are you going to be taking him to the dance on Saturday?" Jade asked.

"Probably, yeah." Beck replied. "Will you be taking Tori?" Jade thought for a moment, then gave a hesitant nod. Beck grinned, slightly nudging her shoulder. "Good. Well, I oughta go, so I'll see you later." He said, pushing himself off the wall and leaving Jade to stand alone in the hallway.

She watched Beck go, thinking about what he just told her. _'Is it true? Did Tori actually like me this whole time?"_ She frowned, deciding that she'd ask Tori when she called her later. She took one last glance at the dance flyer, then walked away and out the doors.

—

Jade laid her bag on the floor of her room and tossed herself on the bed. She reached for the TV remote, ready to relax after a long day; but she paused before she got to it. She sighed as she debated whether to call Tori now or later - she was dying to know if what Beck said was true, and the only way she'd find out was by calling Tori.

Jade picked up her phone and tapped on Tori's contact, her finger hovering over the call button. After a few more moments of hesitation, she finally pressed the button, bringing the phone up to her ear as it rang once… twice… three times…

" _Jade? I thought you were gonna call later?"_ Tori's voice sounded through the phone.

"I figured I might as well call now before I get too comfortable." Jade explained.

" _Oh, okay! Well, I've been having a hard time with… PEMDAS?"_

"PEMDAS? Tori, that's like, one of the easiest things in math." Jade groaned.

" _Why did you agree to help if you're just gonna be like that?"_ Tori muttered on the other end.

"Fine, what do you need help with?"

Jade proceeded to guide Tori through a few problems - which felt more like thirty problems. She tried to keep her temper under control as she repeatedly explained the rules of PEMDAS. _'How can one girl be so beautifully stupid?'_ She wondered.

" _Okay, I think I get it now."_ Tori said after one more problem. Jade sighed with relief.

"Finally. I was starting to think I'd have to become your tutor." She muttered.

" _Well, that's still a possibility…"_ Tori giggled as Jade let out a disgusted groan. _"Oh come on, you know you wouldn't mind it."_

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night." Jade dismissed. They both went silent, and Jade wondered if asking Tori 'the burning question' was the best idea. But before she could talk herself out of it, her mouth was already moving.

"Hey Tori?" She began.

" _Yeah? Is everything okay?"_ Tori questioned, noticing Jade's shift in tone.

"Earlier, Beck told me something… about you, er, us. And, I wanted to know if it's true."

" _Okay… what'd he say?"_

"He said that he - and the rest of the group - knew that you've always liked me, and not just from when we started fake-dating. Which I think is absolutely ridiculous, but… is it true? Have you really liked me all this time?"

There was silence on Tori's end as she mulled over what to say. _"…Yeah, it's true. From the first time I saw you… I dunno, I just knew you were special. There was something about you that kept me close. I always denied everything, though, because I was scared of these sudden feelings. But when we sang together at Nozu, I guess I finally accepted that I liked you. Every little thing about you, I found them beautiful. From every snappy comment to your occasional warm smile, to your shining eyes… but I always tried to hide it, because I never thought you'd like me back. And yet here we are, going from fake-dating to real dating."_ Tori finished.

Jade smiled widely, her cheeks dusted a bright red. "Tori…" She murmured, trying to find the right words to say. "When I walked into the classroom and saw you for the first time, I was immediately drawn to you. It was like instant attraction; but at the time, I didn't know that. I was terrified of why I suddenly took interest in you. And when I dumped that coffee on you, on your first day at Hollywood Arts, I thought I wouldn't have to worry about the sudden feelings for you anymore. But then you came back the next day, and that's when I knew you were different, special. And from then, I just fell harder for you every day." As she finished, she could hear Tori sniffling on the other end.

" _You mean that…?"_ She whimpered. Jade laughed lightly.

"I know it's hard to believe, but yes, I mean it." The goth assured Tori.

" _Wow… never in a million years did I think I'd see the soft side of Jade West."_ Tori teased.

"Yeah well, don't get used to it, 'cause you may never see it again." Jade warned the brunette.

" _Duly noted."_ Tori said quickly. _"It means a lot, though, seriously."_

Jade smiled. "Good." She murmured. "Now, unless you have more questions about math, I'll be hanging up in the next 10 seconds."

" _Nope, I think that's all! Thanks again, babe. I'll see you tomorrow."_

And with that, Jade said her goodbye and promptly hung up. She laid back on her bed, their conversation replaying in her mind. _'She liked me this whole time… wow, I'm such a fucking idiot.'_ She mentally smacked herself. How did she not pick up on it sooner? Their date set up by Sikowitz, the Platinum Music Awards, their "homemade" pizza fiasco… it all made sense now. She groaned and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow. "I'm so stupid." She mumbled.

And when did she become so… soft? That was so unlike her. She'd usually never admit something like that, let alone to Tori. Maybe Beck was right; Tori _was_ changing her. She kinda loved it and hated it at the same time. _'What is going on…? And what am I gonna do?'_ She wondered. She rolled back over, eyeing the TV remote again. "I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna watch TV so I can temporarily forget about all this." She muttered to herself. She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, scrolling through movies until she found one that caught her interest.

—

Jade walked into school the next day, a giant cup of coffee in hand. She hadn't been able to sleep much last night, her thoughts too preoccupied by, of course, Tori. She stayed up thinking about how Tori really had changed her, made her softer; but only for her, and no one else. She thought about before they had to fake-date, about how she always admired Tori's singing, personality, and everything else about her - no matter how cheesy that sounded.

"Jade!"

' _Well, that's convenient timing.'_ Jade thought. She closed her locker and turned her attention to Tori, who had just come around the corner. "What?" She asked, raising a pierced eyebrow.

"I need to ask you something." The brunette rushed out breathlessly.

"Whoa whoa whoa, take a breath. I can hardly understand you." Jade laid her hands on Tori's shoulders to calm her down. "What's up?"

Tori lowered her gaze, a light pink blush coloring her cheeks. "Well, I was wondering-"

"Hey girls!" André and Beck walked up to the two. "Wanna come to Nozu with us after school?"

"Uh, sure!" Tori said, having been caught off-guard by their interruption.

"Can we come too?" Robbie asked as he joined the group, Cat bouncing behind him.

"Sure! Meet up at Tori's locker after school?" André clarified. The others nodded in agreement.

"Yay!" Cat chirped excitedly.

The bell rang loudly, and students began making their way to their classes. As the group dispersed, Tori turned to Jade apologetically.

"I'll ask you later!" She called, before being swept up in a crowd of students. Jade frowned, then walked to her class in frustration.

' _Damnit, why did the guys have to interrupt her?!'_ She thought, letting out a huff as she flung open the door to her classroom.

Jade had to go through her first classes drawing up multiple scenarios of what Tori was about to ask her. Some of them included conversations like, 'are we sure this is gonna work out?', or 'can we really last the two months?'. Her head began to hurt as her thoughts whirled, and at last she was broken out of her trance by the bell, finally signaling lunch. _'Those periods felt so damn slow, they were like 10 years.'_ She grabbed her bag and made her way out the door.

Her eyes searched the mass of students for her girlfriend. She _had_ to know what Tori was going to tell her. What if she was gonna break up with Jade? And then they'd have to tell Sikowitz that they couldn't complete the challenge? Or maybe-

"Jade! There you are!"

The goth whirled around at the familiar voice, and was greeted with Tori's warm smile as she weaved her way through the crowd.

"Hey babe, I've been looking for you." Jade said, taking hold of Tori's hand once she stopped beside her.

"Me too. Listen, I wanted to ask if you and I-"

"Tori! Jade! C'mon, you're gonna miss lunch!" Cat ran up to them, grabbing Tori's arm and dragging her along behind her. Tori let out a squeak of protest as she and Jade were interrupted once again.

' _It's like the universe doesn't want me to know what Tori has to ask me.'_ Jade thought irritably. She promptly sat down at the table with the rest of the group, and Tori sat next to her. They both exchanged glances. Tori mouthed the words 'Later, I promise', and Jade gave a tiny nod.

Jade idly listened to the group talking about the after school plan, giving a necessary head nod or noise of agreement where needed. But she couldn't stop worrying about what Tori wanted to say to her. She tapped her fork against her food tray anxiously as more thoughts of their confrontation passed through her head.

She felt a hand gently rest on her thigh, and she glanced at Tori, who was giving her a comforting smile. Jade laid her own hand across Tori's as she returned the smile, feeling slightly more reassured.

Lunch was soon finished, and the gang walked to Sikowitz's class together. They sat at their normal spots at the front, waiting for their teacher to barge in through the door and begin the lesson.

Class went by, and eventually, the final bell rang, and all the students began filtering out the doors. Jade began grabbing her stuff, before being yanked up by Tori and dragged outside the classroom.

"Hey! Quit manhandling me!" Jade snapped, pulling her arm away. "What's going on?!"

Tori gathered her breath, then spluttered out, "Trying to buy enough time… to ask you if you'd wanna-"

"Hey hey, y'all ready to go to Nozu?" André chimed, coming up beside the girls. The rest of the group followed behind him.

Jade suppressed a groan. _'Interrupted yet again. What a surprise.'_ She snorted.

"Yeah, we're ready." Tori answered André. Jade could tell that the brunette was equally frustrated, but managed to hide it well.

The gang were soon on their way to Nozu; Jade drove Tori and Cat, while Beck drove André and Robbie. They all got to the restaurant in ten minutes, and they went inside and sat at the counter.

"Welcome to Nozu, what can I- oh, it's just you people." Mrs. Lee spat, glaring at the group - specifically, Jade and Tori.

"Hello, Mrs. Lee…" The two girls chorused.

"So what do you children want?" Mrs. Lee demanded. Each of the group ordered what they wanted, Tori and Jade getting disgusted glares the whole time. Eventually, Mrs. Lee finally finished taking their orders, and she disappeared to the kitchen.

"She really has it out for you two, huh?" Robbie commented with concern.

"Hasn't it been almost two years since that play?" Cat asked, scrunching her eyebrows.

Jade nodded. "Yeah. It's not like we actually killed her daughter or anything, anyway. We just forgot she was hanging from dangerous wires on the ceiling…" Now that she said it out loud, she slightly understood why Mrs. Lee was still mad at them.

"We would've gotten her down sooner or later!" Tori protested.

"Yeah, well I don't think 'sooner' would've been soon enough for Mrs. Lee." Beck shrugged, and André nodded in agreement.

"Still, let's just try to forget about it, right?" Tori suggested.

"Kinda hard, since Mrs. Lee _always_ brings it up." André pointed out. Tori's face fell in defeat.

"You're right… we'll just have to figure out a way to make it up to her." Tori muttered, looking at Jade. The goth rolled her eyes, but didn't push the topic anymore.

Mrs. Lee came back from the kitchen, holding their food. She promptly set each dish down in front of the respective person, giving them one last glare.

"Eat quickly. I'd rather not look at your faces for longer than I have to." She growled, before stalking back to the kitchen.

Jade glared after her, then turned to her food once the owner was out of sight. "Crazy lady." She muttered as she shoved a piece of sushi in her mouth.

The rest of the time was spent talking and laughing, enjoying their food, and a bit of karaoke here and there. After spending a few hours there, the group left Nozu, saying their goodbyes and going their separate ways. As Jade left, it had begun to rain, the soft sound of the raindrops against her car putting her at ease. She dropped Cat off at her Nona's apartment, then drove to Tori's house. Since their houses weren't too far apart, there wasn't much time to talk before Jade was stopped in Tori's driveway.

Jade looked over at the brunette, and their eyes locked. They stared at each other for what felt like 5 years, and Jade knew that Tori wanted to say something. But before Jade could tell her to spit it out, Tori was already getting out of the car. She waved goodbye to Jade, and Jade waved back, slightly upset that she was left without any idea what Tori wanted to ask her all day.

As Jade was about to put her car in reverse, she heard a knock at her window. She snapped her head around, fully prepared to break someone's nose. She relaxed when she saw that it was just Tori, and she rolled down her window.

"What?" She asked, looking at Tori with confusion.

"The dance." The brunette's voice was hardly more than a whisper, her eyes trained on the ground as she was too nervous to look at Jade.

"Huh? What about the dance?" Jade asked, starting to get slightly irritated.

"That's what I've been trying to ask you all day. Do you… wanna go to the dance with me…?" Tori asked, and she carefully raised her gaze.

Jade stared at Tori, the brunette standing in the rain as she waited for an answer, her eyes shining hopefully. Jade smiled warmly at her girlfriend, reaching out and grabbing her hand.

"Of course, babe." She murmured. She pulled Tori in for a kiss, delicately wiping raindrops off the brunette's cheeks. They pulled away after a few moments, a lopsided grin plastered on Tori's face.

"Now, go inside before you get sick." Jade said, waving Tori towards her door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Tori gave Jade one last kiss on the cheek, then went off towards the house. Jade watched Tori to make sure she got inside safely, before leaving the driveway and going back home.


	10. Chapter 10

**10 - Jade's POV**

Jade sighed as she examined her outfit in the mirror. It was Saturday - the day of the dance - and she was just finishing getting ready. She was wearing a long, flowy black dress with velvet black high heels, with a small gold necklace, and topped off with a natural makeup look. Her hair was in a half-up bun, and the rest of her hair was curled.

She hummed in satisfaction, and grabbed her purse from the bed. She was almost out the door, but she remembered one more thing; she went back to her room and sprayed some vanilla perfume on her clothes, the memories of their first kiss flooding back as the scent hit her nose. Once she was sure she got everything, she texted Tori that she was on her way to pick her up, then got in her car and began driving to the brunette's house.

In five minutes, she was already at Tori's house (granted, she was speeding just a little bit). She got out of her car and slowly made her way up to the door, her nervousness starting to take over. This was the first dance they'd be going to where they were actually dating, and yet no one else - except for Beck - knew they were really dating, so Jade had no idea how she should act.

As she was lost in thought, her hand had been hovering in front of the door as she hesitated to knock. She snapped back to reality and was about to knock, but the door abruptly opened, and Tori stood in the doorway. She wore a short, velvet, deep red dress with ruby red ankle boots. Her lip gloss matched her dress, and she wore small red earrings and a matching necklace.

Jade's breath caught in her throat as she gazed at Tori. "You're… wow." She whispered. Tori blushed, giving Jade a small smile.

"You look beautiful." The brunette said quietly, stepping outside. Jade took hold of Tori's hand, lifting it up to give it a kiss.

"May I take you to the gala, Miss Vega?" She smiled, leading Tori to the car and helping her in. Jade circled around to the driver's side and got in, then began driving to Hollywood Arts.

"I see neither of us went with the theme." Tori laughed lightly.

"The theme was stupid anyway." Jade scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Do they seriously expect me to dress up in some "enchanted" bullshit?"

"Language." Tori warned. "And the theme isn't that bad, but I do admit it's pretty hard to match it." She said. "But, this being Hollywood Arts, I wouldn't be surprised if everyone were decked out in some fairy costumes or something."

Jade laughed. "See what I mean? They'd expect me to go over the top in some stupid costume, and there's no way in hell that would ever happen." She shook her head. Tori merely sighed, lightly shoving Jade's shoulder.

"Fairy costume or no, you still look magical." The Latina murmured, giving Jade a quick kiss on her cheek.

"I know." Jade said casually, pulling into the parking lot. They both got out of the car, interlocking their hands as they made their way to the Asphalt Café. They walked through the hallway, the music growing louder the closer they got, until they emerged from the school and into the main dance area

"Hey, look who's here!" Jade and Tori turned around to see André and Beck walking towards them. The girls each waved to them as they approached.

"Hey boys." Jade greeted.

"You two clean up nicely!" Tori complimented, nodding at their suits and neatly-done hair.

"Why thank you." Beck said, giving a small bow.

"Hey you guys?" Cat came bounding up to the group, looking slightly worried.

"What's wrong, little red?" André questioned.

"Have any of you seen Robbie?" The redhead asked breathlessly.

"No, why? Did something happen?" Tori frowned.

"Yes! He took another girl to the dance!" Cat whimpered. Jade rolled her eyes.

"Come on Cat, this again? Why don't you just tell him you like him?" She groaned.

"No! Gross!" Cat squeaked, crossing her arms in frustration.

"Cat, just go find him and talk to him. It'll be worth it." Beck urged her, motioning to the crowd. She hesitated, before nodding and sprinting off.

' _That girl is a handful…'_ Jade thought with a sigh. The remaining four continued to talk, eat some food, and dance, time seeming to dissolve as Jade laughed along with the group.

Soon enough, a slow song began playing. Jade ran her hand along Tori's arm, guiding her to the dance floor. "May I have this dance?" Jade asked with a wink, offering her hand to Tori.

"Of course, m'lady." The brunette giggled, gently taking Jade's hand. Jade wrapped her other arm around Tori's waist, bringing them closer, and Tori placed her hand on the goth's shoulder. They danced to the speed of the music, the lights around them seeming to dim. It was as if the surrounding crowd disappeared, and Jade and Tori were the only two people there.

Jade felt as light as air, and she let her body move on its own as the music swirled around them. Dancing in sync with Tori, twirling her around and hugging her close, it all felt like a dream. Tori laid her head on Jade's chest, sending electric sparks through Jade's veins. Her stomach twisted as Tori wrapped both arms around the goth's neck, and Jade delicately placed her other arm around her girlfriend's waist.

Tori lifted her head from Jade's chest, and their eyes locked for a long moment. Jade smiled, gazing into Tori's deep brown eyes and watching them twinkle in the moonlight. She pulled the brunette in for a kiss, feeling Tori melt beneath her, and their bodies brushed against each other as their lips moved in harmony. Jade lightly bit Tori's lip, smirking when Tori let out a quiet moan. Their tongues followed the rhythm of the music, and Tori's hands slowly tangled in the goth's hair. Jade's mind became hazy, her kisses growing more frantic and desperate; she felt her same desire reflected in Tori as the brunette pressed against her.

They almost forgot they were at the school dance, and they finally separated when the song ended. Slightly panting, they made their way to the edge of the crowd once more, and met up with André and Beck.

"Looks like you two had fun." Beck remarked with a smirk.

"Damn, you two were _all over_ each other!" André added.

"Shut up." Jade growled, wiping off some of Tori's lip gloss that had managed to smear. Tori gently hip checked her, giving Jade a small kiss on the cheek.

"Well, looks like most people are starting to leave, so we should probably head out soon, too." André said after a moment.

"We better find Cat and Robbie first, and make sure they're fine." Tori piped up. Jade nodded, taking Tori's hand and leading her through the crowd in search of the redhead.

They eventually found the other two, sitting on a bench away from the large mass of students. Jade and Tori stood there for a moment and observed them, watching as Robbie softly kissed Cat - although unlike last time, Cat didn't run off. Jade gave Tori's arm a slight tug, and the two girls approached them.

"Hey, we and André and Beck are gonna leave soon, you coming?" Jade asked. Cat and Robbie nodded and stood up from the bench. They followed behind the girls, Cat giggling as Robbie slipped his hand into hers.

"Found them." Jade said as they walked back to André and Beck.

"Great, let's get going. Don't wanna get stuck in traffic." Beck chuckled, and led the way towards the parking lot. The group hugged and said their goodbyes, and Jade pulled Tori along as they walked to the goth's car.

Jade opened the car door for Tori, then got in and began driving to her girlfriend's house. The air around them buzzed with anticipation, and it only grew as they neared the house; Jade could feel her heart practically leaping out of her chest as her emotions bubbled inside her.

After a short - yet agonizingly long - ride later, they finally reached Tori's house. Earlier that day, Tori had mentioned that her parents were out of town and Trina was going to a friend's house after the dance, so the only ones that were home were Jade and Tori. The two girls exchanged glances, and they knew exactly what they wanted.

They both got out of the car, and Tori led the way into the house. Jade set her bag down on the couch, then hastily kicked off her shoes, Tori doing the same. The goth followed Tori up the stairs and into her room, closing the door once they got inside.

Jade turned to Tori with a smirk. Pulling her in by her waist, Jade captured Tori's lips in a soft kiss. In one swift movement, Jade pinned the brunette against the door, her hands trailing down Tori's thighs. She felt Tori shudder beneath her touch, her small hands hooking around Jade's neck. Jade flicked her tongue across Tori's lips, and her girlfriend almost immediately parted them to let her in.

As they stood pressed up on the door, Jade's mind grew more foggy as her emotions threatened to take over. Her kisses became rough, her lips moving with desperation. Tori let out a slight moan, and she brought her legs up to wrap them around Jade's waist. The goth carefully carried Tori to her bed, laying her down on it before climbing on top of her.

Any ounce of rational thinking that Jade might've had was completely gone by now as their kisses deepened, the flames of desire burning hotter and brighter. Jade tore her mouth from Tori's as her hands moved away from Tori's thighs, making their way higher and reaching underneath the brunette. She smoothly unzipped Tori's dress and practically ripped it off in her excitement. Next was her bra; Jade easily unclipped it and tossed it aside with the dress. Her eyes traveled over Tori's body, then stopped at her chest, and she licked her lips hungrily.

"Not so fast." Tori murmured. Jade was suddenly pulled down into a kiss, and she felt her own dress and bra being removed and discarded somewhere in the room. Tori broke the kiss, her gaze trailing over Jade. "Much better." She smirked.

Jade huffed before kissing Tori once again, her hands returning to her girlfriend's waist. Tori let out a muffled moan, her hands tightening in Jade's raven-black hair as the goth began moving down Tori's jaw. She went down to Tori's neck, sucking, kissing, and biting it all over and earning more gasps and moans from the brunette. She found one particular place where Tori moaned louder, and she repeatedly kissed and sucked at that spot, before continuing down her chest. She lightly bit one of Tori's nipples, and she let out a sharp moan, squirming with pleasure. Tori's hands untangled from Jade's hair and trailed across the goth's collarbone, which sent shivers down her spine.

Jade let her hands travel along Tori's thighs, and her fingers expertly danced up to the Latina's stomach before resting at her sides. Her mouth left Tori's breasts and made its way down her stomach, leaving goosebumps in its wake.

Her fingers delicately traced the hem of Tori's underwear. She lifted her head to look at Tori, and their eyes locked; she could see the lust that she felt was reflected in her girlfriend's gaze. Tori was trembling with anticipation, and her voice was hardly more than a shaky whisper.

"Please… I need you."

Jade didn't need to be told twice.


	11. Chapter 11

**11 - Tori's POV**

Tori hummed faintly as she began to roll onto her side, then froze as she felt a pair of arms tighten around her body - which she soon realized was very naked, and so was the other person's. She felt panic rush through her as the memories of last night hit her harder than a truck.

' _I… We… Jade and I… had sex.'_ Tori thought, alarmed. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, and she suddenly wanted to be anywhere but in the bed.

She carefully wriggled away from Jade's grasp - luckily the goth was a very heavy sleeper, proven by the Yerba trip - and quickly put on a sweatshirt, then made her way to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. As she waited for the coffee to be made, she leaned against the counter, slightly surprised with herself. She usually never drank coffee, but she guessed that she'd been around Jade so much, she just began picking up on Jade's habits.

' _That girl has to have some kind of spell on me or something.'_ Tori mused as she poured her coffee. She added some creamer and sweetener, then leaned on the counter again, thinking over the events that transpired the previous night.

' _So, we had sex. It's not the end of the world, right?'_ She thought. _'But it is! Because that was never supposed to happen - she explicitly said no sex! This whole thing started because we were supposed to fake-date, and now, somehow it's become an actual relationship! With everything you'd expect to happen; hugging - which is surprising, considering Jade is… Jade, holding hands, making out, and now sex?! What's next, marriage?'_ Tori was practically screaming in her head, her thoughts whirling like a tornado.

Her eyes flicked to the stairs as she heard Jade emerging from the bedroom. The goth tiredly stumbled down the stairs (wearing one of Tori's sweatshirts), rubbing the remaining sleep from her eyes.

"Is there any leftover coffee?" She mumbled.

"Y-yeah, here." Tori gave Jade the coffee pot and let her pour a cup for herself. The brunette was slightly worried that Jade didn't seem bothered about them having sex last night - but then again, Jade just woke up, so it would probably be a while before she commented on it.

A few minutes of silence passed before Jade finally spoke up. "It's not bad." She murmured, looking up from her coffee cup.

"The sex?" Tori asked, taken aback.

"No no. Well, there _are_ some things you need to work on, like maybe not screaming so loud." Jade smirked. Tori crossed her arms offendedly.

"Hey! That wasn't all my fault, y'know. And, if I recall, you did a fair amount of screaming, too." Tori shot back.

"Touché. But no, not the sex. The fact that we had sex isn't bad." Jade explained. Tori looked at her girlfriend in confusion.

"What do you mean?" She wondered.

"I mean, I don't see what's wrong with us having sex. We both knew it was gonna happen eventually, anyway. And besides, it was… good." Jade admitted.

Tori smirked, gently nudging the goth. "Oh, is that so?" She said smugly.

"Don't let it get to your head, Vega." Jade muttered, slightly blushing.

"Alright, whatever you say." Tori chimed. "And I thought you said no sex?"

"Well, like I said before, I made the rules, so I can also change them." Jade said, shrugging.

The brunette sighed and gave Jade a quick kiss on the cheek, then set her empty coffee cup on the counter before making her way to the couch. "Care to join me?" She asked, winking at Jade.

The goth rolled her eyes, leaving her cup on the counter and sitting next to Tori. The brunette instantly leaned into Jade's warmth, letting out a quiet hum. She looked up at Jade, and was taken by surprise when their lips were suddenly pressed together.

Their kisses were slow and lazy as they drew closer to each other; Tori's hands looped around Jade's midsection as her girlfriend's hands slipped under Tori's sweatshirt and snaked their way up her body. Tori let out a faint moan, shifting her position to wrap her legs around Jade's waist.

Jade swiftly removed Tori's sweatshirt, the brunette doing the same with Jade. Tori was promptly pushed on her back, her lips still attacking Jade's as the goth was now hovering above her. Their kisses became rougher as their bodies brushed together, and Tori let out a desperate whimper as Jade's fingers trailed oh-so-slowly down her stomach.

Jade pulled her head back slightly, and Tori's eyes connected with hers. Seeing her own desire reflected in those pale green eyes, Tori knew that they both wanted this.

—

"You still have to work on your screaming."

Tori glared at Jade. "Shut up!"

Jade had quickly taken Tori a few moments ago, and they were now cuddled next to each other with a blanket wrapped around them; their sweatshirts were still lying on the ground somewhere in the room.

"It's not that I don't like it - trust me, I do - but I doubt other people who possibly heard us would like it." Jade winked at Tori.

The brunette gently shoved Jade's shoulder. "Whatever." She scoffed.

Jade gave Tori a small kiss on her forehead. They sat snuggled against each other for a while, their emotions still running high.

They stiffened as they heard the sound of jingling keys followed by Tori's mom and dad's voices, and she looked at Jade with panic.

"My parents!" She hissed. They frantically looked around for some way to hide Jade. Then Tori's eyes landed on the closet in the hallway. "The closet!" She exclaimed, pulling Jade off the couch and leading her to the hall.

"Wow, how ironic." Jade huffed dryly.

"Just shut up and get in!" Tori hurriedly shoved Jade inside, then quickly grabbed the nearest sweatshirt - which happened to be the one Jade was wearing. As she put it on, she was slightly calmed by the scent of her girlfriend.

"Tori, we're home!" Her mom walked through the door, her dad closely following.

"Hey mom! Hey dad!" Tori greeted, trying to sound normal.

"Are you alright? You look a bit pale… and the couch is a mess! Where did that blanket come from?" Her mom questioned, feeling Tori's forehead.

"Yes, I'm fine! I slept on the couch last night, and I just woke up." She lied, hoping her parents bought it.

"Alright… hey, how come that sweatshirt's on the ground?" Her mom pointed to the sweatshirt behind the couch.

"Oh! I… wore that one yesterday, before the dance." Tori said. "I must've forgotten to take it upstairs."

"Well, make sure you take it up later." Her dad warned. Tori nodded in understanding, watching her parents go upstairs to unpack their bags. As soon as they were out of sight, she rushed to the closet.

"You've gotta go, now." Tori whispered.

"Tori, I'm naked." Jade said bluntly. Tori groaned, then ran upstairs to grab a pair of spandex, hurrying back down before her parents saw Jade. She picked up the sweatshirt from behind the couch and gave the clothes to her girlfriend.

"Here, wear these." She said. Jade quickly put them on, then grabbed her keys from the table.

"I'll be back tonight." Jade murmured, giving Tori a soft kiss before escaping out the door.

Tori sighed, sitting down on the couch. _'That was wayyy too close.'_ She thought. She just hoped her parents didn't look in her room, since both of their dresses were still on the floor.

She laid on the couch for a while longer, then stood up and made her way to the stairs. _'I should probably take a shower, since I'm covered in Jade's perfume.'_ She got to her room and hastily shoved the dresses under her bed, before getting ready for a shower.

The rest of the day went by rather slowly. Tori ended up sitting on the couch watching random TV shows all day, and when Jade came over in the evening, they watched a few movies (at least one of them had to be horror, according to Jade). Tori made sure Jade got her dress from the room before she left, just so they wouldn't have to worry about it later.

Tori sighed as she flopped down on her bed, already finished with her night routine. It still smelled of Jade, and Tori smiled at the now- familiar scent of her vanilla perfume. As she laid there, she began thinking about what would happen next.

' _Is it gonna be awkward at school now? What if the others ask about it? What'll we say to them?'_ She wondered. She felt like the right thing to do would be to tell them, but at the same time, that kind of stuff is no one else's business except hers and Jade's. _'I guess we'll burn that bridge when we get to it.'_ She decided.

Another thought soon pushed its way into her mind, and she couldn't help but feel worried about it. _'What are we gonna do once our two months are up? Will we keep dating, or…'_ She didn't want to finish the question, her stomach twisting anxiously as she already knew what the rest of it was.

She shook her head to try and rid herself of the thought, and turned off her lights. _'I'll just try and find time to talk to Jade…'_ She closed her eyes and soon drifted into an uneasy sleep.

—

A few days went by, and normally it would be just a regular Friday; but not for Tori. Today marked two months since Sikowitz issued the challenge to her, André, Beck, and Jade. Tori hadn't gotten a chance to talk with Jade about what they'd do afterwards, and now the brunette was more scared than ever. _'What if she breaks up with me? Or what if we grow distant? Or go back to hating each other?'_ She wondered, distraught. She paced in front of her locker worriedly, hardly noticing André come up to her until he tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped and whirled around to face him.

"O-oh, hey André!" She squeaked.

"Are you okay? You seem like my grandma." Her best friend asked, surveying Tori.

"Yeah, I'm great! Never better!" She cried, putting on a wide, fake smile.

"Who do you think you're fooling? I know something's up." André pressed. "Is it 'cause our two months are up today?"

Tori hesitated, then hung her head. "Okay fine… yeah. I'm worried about what's gonna happen with Jade and I. Do you think she's gonna break up with me?" She whimpered.

"C'mon Tori, do you really think that? I've seen the way you two look at each other. She likes you a lot, and I know you do, too. Even though this is Jade we're talking about, I doubt she'd let you go just 'cause this challenge is over." André soothed, rubbing Tori's arm reassuringly.

"You really think so?" The brunette murmured, looking at her best friend hopefully.

"I know so." André confirmed. "Now c'mon, let's get to Sikowitz's class before we're late." He said, pulling Tori along behind him.

The class went by in a blur, Tori's mind too focused on the impending 'meeting' once class was over. She and Jade sat next to each other with their hands entwined - like always - and Tori occasionally tensed as her thoughts got carried away; every time she did, Jade would rub her thumb against the back of the brunette's hand comfortingly, which always calmed Tori down.

The bell rang out, Tori's hand instantly tightening around Jade's, and the goth gave Tori a quick kiss on the cheek to put her at ease.

"Tori, Jade, Beck, André. Hang back a sec." Sikowitz called, crossing his arms. The two couples stood at their chairs until everyone else left the classroom.

"I'm sure you all know why you're here." The teacher began.

"You wanted to warn us about the dangers of drinking coconut milk?" André teased.

"No!" Sikowitz rolled his eyes.

"Our two months are up, right?" Beck cut in.

"Yes, precisely!" Their teacher clapped in excitement. "Did you four manage to get along and stay a couple throughout the whole two months?" He demanded.

"We did." André and Beck said, wrapping an arm around each other in triumph.

"So did we!" Tori confirmed, gently rubbing Jade's arm.

"Wonderful!" Sikowitz cried out. "You all get A's on this little experiment!"

"Thank God." Jade huffed, while the others echoed her relief.

"Now, what'll you do now?" Sikowitz turned a questioning eye on the two couples.

"We'll probably just go back to being friends." Beck laughed, playfully shoving André.

"Yeah, we work a lot better together that way." The other boy added.

"Excellent." Sikowitz then shifted his gaze to Tori and Jade. "And what about you girls?"

This was the moment Tori had been dreading. Her hand tightened once more, her stomach twisting into a million knots. Her heart was pounding so hard, she thought for sure the others could hear it. She looked at Jade, their eyes locking. She was taken aback when she saw her girlfriend looking at her with an emotion she never thought Jade West was capable of feeling: love. The goth gave Tori a warm smile, then turned back to Sikowitz.

"I think I like it like this." She said softly. Tori's face broke out into a wide grin, a faint blush decorating her cheeks. Sikowitz raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Well alright then!" He exclaimed. "Thank you all for partaking in the challenge. You may go now." He waved his hands at them to shoo them away, and they all promptly obeyed.

André and Beck knew that the girls wanted to talk to each other alone, so they said their goodbyes and walked away.

Tori turned to Jade, still smiling. "Did you really mean that?" She whispered.

"Well, I don't say things that I don't mean." Jade replied. She wrapped her arms around Tori's waist, placing a small kiss on her forehead. Tori gazed at her girlfriend for a moment, before pulling her in for another kiss. Jade melted into it, and soon Tori felt her back pressed against the wall as Jade's hands grazed her stomach.

"I love you." Tori whispered, then froze as she realized the words that left her mouth.

Jade pulled away, startled by Tori's sudden confession. The brunette searched Jade's pale green eyes, panic surging through her. _'Fuck, what did I just do?!'_ Moments passed, and to Tori it felt like an eternity as she waited for Jade's reaction.

"I love you too." Came Jade's quiet response, and their lips were once again pressed against each other's. Tori's heart fluttered, and it was as if she was on cloud nine. Nothing felt more right; Tori's hands sliding up Jade's arms and her girlfriend's hands trailing against her skin as they both got lost in the kiss.

* * *

**a/n: that’s it for this fic!! i hope y’all enjoyed it :’) it sucks that i won’t have a story to update now, however i do have another story in progress, so keep your eyes out for that... ;)**


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